GDFT  OF 


THE 

LAND     OF    SIN  I  M: 


OR   AN  ,  «  /  ' J, 


EXPOSITION  OF  ISAIAH  XLIX.  12. 


TOGETHER   WITH 


A   BRIEF    ACCOUNT    OF    THE 


JEWS  AND  CHRISTIANS  IN  CHINA. 


BY  A  MISSIONABY  IN  CHINA. 


PHILADELPHIA : 

WILLIAM  S.  MARTIEN,  No.  37  SOUTH  SEVENTH  STREET. 

NEW  YORK  : — No.  23  CENTRE  STREET. 

1845. 


(/ 

ADVERTISEMENT. 


THIS  little  work  appeared  originally  in  several 
numbers  of  the  Chinese  Repository  of  the  year 
1844.  It  was  written  by  one  of  the  Missionaries 
of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  in  China;  and  it  is  now  republished, 
without  the  knowledge  of  the  author,  in  the  hope 
of  gratifying  and  perhaps  increasing  the  interest 
of  the  Christian  community  in  the  evangelization 
of  the  Chinese. 

MISSION  HOUSE, 

New  York,  1845. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Page 
THE  COUNTRY  DESIGNATED , 9 

CHAPTER  II. 

FULFILMENT  OP  THE  PROPHECY  OF  ISAIAH  CONCERNING 

THE  LAND  OF  SINIM 28 

THE  JEWS  IN  CHINA 30 

EARLY  CHRISTIANS  IN  CHINA 33 

NESTORIANS  IN  CHINA 36 

CHAPTER  III. 
ROMAN  CATHOLICS  IN  CHINA 46 

CHAPTER  IV. 
ROMAN  CATHOLICS  IN  CHINA 76 

CHAPTER  V. 
PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  CHINA 121 

APPENDIX. 

TOLERATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION  IN  CHINA.  .     145 


THE  LAND  OF  SINIM, 

AN 

EXAMINATION  OF  ISAIAH  XLIX.  12. 


CHAPTER  1. 

THE  COUNTRY  DESIGNATED. 

THE  prophecy  of  Isaiah,  (chapter  xlix.  12,) 
"  Behold  these  shall  come  far:  audio  these 
from  the  north,  and  from  the  west;  and  these 
from  the  land  of  Sinim,"  has  given  rise  to 
much  speculation  among  biblical  students, 
and  is  particularly  interesting  to  those  who 
watch  the  progress  of  the  gospel  in  China. 
This  empire  is  doubtless  included  in  each  of 
the  numerous  prophecies  that  foretell  the 
world's  conversion.  Her  superstitions  shall 
assuredly  vanish  away — already  they  are 
old;  her  ancient  temples  shall  crumble  into 
dust,  and  her  people  shall  yet  bow  the  knee 
to  Jesus  Christ  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 
This  we  believe,  even  though  no  special  pro- 
phecy be  found  to  confirm  our  faith.  And 
if  so,  why  seek  additional  proofs?  Why  ask 
whether  this  or  that  prophecy  has  special 
reference  to  China,  when  already  assured  of 
her  conversion?  Such  questions  are  often, 
2 


10  THE    LAND    OP    SINIM. 

but  improperly  asked.  It  is  the  Christian's 
duty  to  investigate,  and  if  possible,  discover 
the  meaning  of  every  portion  of  God's  word. 
He  is  not  at  liberty  to  neglect  the  special 
confirmations  of  faith  which  special  prophe- 
cies afford.  He  who  speaks  no  idle  word  has 
not  given  his  revelations  without  design,  and 
if  aqicng  them  there,  be  one  intended  for  the 
Chinese,  it  is  both  pleasant  and  profitable  to 
£n0v/  it.  :  „•  * 

It  has  been  remarked  that,  "on  a  cursory 
examination  of  the  prophecy  in  question,  one 
is  apt  to  suppose  it  refers  to  China,  but  a 
more  thorough  investigation  leads  to  a  dif- 
ferent opinion."  How  much  truth  there  is 
in  this  remark,  will  appear  in  the  sequel. 
Certain  it  is  that  the  diversity  of  opinion  as 
to  the  meaning  of  this  prophecy,  and  that 
from  the  earliest  ages,  is  not  a  little  remarka- 
ble. The  versions  of  the  Scriptures  arid  the 
commentatorsbothdifferin  their  explanations. 
The  Septuagint  translates  DWD  n**»  by  «  y»e  n«/>- 
trew,  from  the  land  of  the  Persians,  in  which  it 
is  followed  by  the  Arabic.  The  Chaldee  Par- 
aphrase, and  the  Latin  version  of  Jerome, 
render  it  from  the  land  of  the  south,  in 
which  they  are  followed  by  the  Spanish 
translation  of  bishop  Miguel,  and  the  earliest 
English  version — that  of  Coverdale — who 
render  it,  and  some  from  the  south.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  ancient  Syriac,  the  most  literal 
and  perhaps  the  best  of  all  the  versions,  re- 
tains the  Hebrew  word,  merely  substituting 
sea  for  land,  and  these  from  the  sea  of  Sinim, 


THE    COUNTRY   DESIGNATED.  11 

The  German  of  Luther,  the  French  of  Mar- 
tin, the  Italian  of  Diodati,  and  the  authorized 
English  version,  all  retain  the  Hebrew  word, 
and  these  from  the  land  of  Sinim.  This 
difference  shows  that  when  these  versions 
were  niade,  it  was  still  uncertain  what  par- 
ticular country  was  meant.  It  is  worthy  of 
notice  that  none  of  the  authors  of  those  ver- 
sions supposed  their  own  country  to  be  in- 
tended. The  authors  of  the  Septuagint  lived 
in  Egypt,  and  of  the  Arabic,  either  in  Arabia 
or  Babylon,  and  they  supposed  that  Persia 
was  intended.  The  authors  of  the  Chaldee 
Paraphrase  living  eastward  of  Judea,  gave 
the  preference  to  a  "  southern  land,"  while 
the  versions  on  which  we  place  the  most  re- 
liance leave  the  particular  country  undeter- 
mined. An  argument  of  weight  is  hence 
derived  to  show  that  neither  Egypt,  Arabia, 
nor  Chaldea  is  intended  in  the  prophecy,  for 
it  can  scarcely  be  supposed  that  the  authors 
of  a  version  living  in  the  very  country  re- 
ferred to,  should  so  utterly  fail  of  perceiving 
it  as  to  give  the  preference  to  other  lands. 

The  opinions  of  commentators  are  equally 
varied;  some,  as  Jerome,  Jarchi,  Grotius, 
Pfeiffer,  and  Forerius,  suppose  that  by  the 
land  of  Sinim  is  meant  the  peninsula  of  Ara- 
bia, and  particularly  the  Desert  of  Sin,  and 
the  region  around  Mount  Sinai.  Others  pre- 
fer to  understand  Egypt,  two  of  whose  cities 
are  called,  in  Scripture,  Sin  and  Syene. 
Some  of  the  most  respectable  names  among 
commentators  uphold  this  opinion;  among 


12  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

others,  those  of  the  Jewish  writers  Aben 
Ezra,  and  Kimchi;  and  of  the  Christians, 
Bochart,  Vitringa,  Hiller,  Seeker,  Munster, 
Clarius,  Michaelis,  Orton,  W.  Lowth  and 
Thomas  Scott.  There  is  another  class  com- 
posed of  those  who  think  that  the  land  of 
Siriim  means  China,  among  whom  are  Ma- 
nasseh  Ben  Israel,  Arias  Montanus,  Dorsch, 
Langles,  Gesenius,  Calmet,  Dr.  Hagar,  Dr. 
Morrison  and  others.  Probably  the  truth 
lies  between  these  opinions,  and  to  them  our 
attention  may  be  confined. 

Before  examining  these  in  detail,  it  is  de- 
sirable to  glance  at  the  meaning  of  the  separ- 
ate clauses  of  the  prophecy.  All  the  versions 
disregard  more  or  less  the  punctuation  of  the 
original,  though  that  is  important  to  a  correct 
understanding  of  the  passage.  Literally  trans- 
lated, arid  pointed  according  to  the  Hebrew, 
it  reads, 

Behold  these !  from  afar  they  shall  come. 

And  behold  these  !  from  the  north,  and  from  the  west: 

And  these !  from  the  land  of  Siriim. 

There  is  a  full  stop  after  the  clause,  'from 
afar  they  shall  come/  and  also  at  the  end  of 
the  verse. 

The  expression  in  the  first  clause  from 
afar,  (pinna  merahoq],  is  indefinite.  In  three 
places,  Jer.  xxx.  10,  xlvi.  27,  and  Hab.  i.  8, 
it  seems  to  refer  to  the  Chaldeans;  in  one, 
Deut.  xxviii.  49,  to  the  Romans;  and  in  one, 
Joel  iii.  8,  to  the  Sabeans.  Yet  even  in  these, 
its  definite  signification  arises  from  the  con- 
text, while  elsewhere,  there  is  nothing  to  in- 


THE    COUNTRY    DESIGNATED.  13 

duce  us  to  suppose  that  one  part  of  the  world 
is  intended,  to  the  exclusion  of  any  other. 
Thus,  in  the  passage  in  Isaiah  xliii.  6,  <  Bring 
my  sons  from  afar,  and  my  daughters  from 
the  ends  of  the  earth/  the  expression  is,  we 
think,  evidently  to  be  understood  as  compre- 
hending all  the  distant  parts  of  the  earth. 
Consequently,  the  assertion  of  Vitringa,  <by 
merahoq  the  east  is  to  be  understood,'  is 
quite  gratuitous.  There  is  no  other  place  in 
Isaiah  where  it  has  this  signification,  and 
why  should  this  be  an  exception?  By  the 
north.,  in  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament, 
Babylon,  and  the  countries  adjacent,  are  al- 
most always  intended.  Thus,  in  the  prophecy 
so  often  repeated  by  Jeremiah,  (l  will  bring 
evil  from  the  north,  and  a  great  destruction,' 
(Jer.  iv.  6 ;  also,  1.  9-41,)  Babylon  is  evidently 
.meant.  By  the  west  (D>D  literally,  from  the 
sea,  the  Mediterranean  sea  lying  west  of  Ju- 
dea),  is  generally  to  be  understood,  all  the 
countries  west  of  Canaan,  particularly  the 
maritme  countries  around  the  Mediterranean. 
In  Dan.  viii.  5,  Alexander  is  predicted  under 
the  figure  of  '  an  he-goat  that  came  from  the 
west.9  The  land  of  Sinim*  is  the  only  clause 
as  to  whose  meaning  there  is  much  doubt. 
The  word  does  not  occur  elsewhere,  so  that 
little  direct  assistance  is  gained  from  parallel 
passages.  The  name  Sinile,  Gen.  x.  17,  and 

*  This  name  is  commonly  pronounced  with  the  first 
vowel  short;  the  analogy  of  other  Scripture  names,  Sidon, 
Silas,  Sihon,  Sinai,  &c,,  shows  that  it  should  be  long,  like 
i  in  pine — Si-nim. 


14  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

1  Chron.  i.  15,  belongs  to  a  Canaanitish  tribe 
north  of  Palestine,  and  cannot  be  intended 
here.  The  only  other  names  resembling  Si- 
nim  are,  Syene  and  Sin,  two  cities  in  Egypt, 
and  Sinai  and  Sin  in  Arabia. 

This  verse  is  the  central  point  of  the  pro- 
phetical discourse  in  Isaiah  xlix.  1:  1.  3.  Its 
first  clause  predicts  the  conversion  of  the 
world  to  God,  under  a  figure  drawn  from  the 
existing  dispensation,  when  worshippers  of 
the  true  God  came  up  to  the  temple  at  Jeru- 
salem to  offer  their  sacrifices.  The  person 
who  speaks  is  Jehovah,  the  Redeemer  of  Is- 
rael, and  his  object  is  to  confirm  his  covenant 
with  the  Son,  and  thus  console  the  church 
mourning  over  her  desolations.  He  declares 
that  even  from  the  most  distant  nations  shall 
his  people  come,  to  pay  homage  to  the  true 
God,  and  to  the  Saviour  whose  appointment 
is  so  fully  set  forth  in  verses  1-12.  Behold 
these  !  from  afar  they  shall  come.  The  suc- 
ceeding clauses  divide  the  world  into  three 
great  parts,  and  predict  the  conversion  of 
each,  under  the  same  figure. 

Behold  these !  from  the  north,  and  from  the  west : 
And  these  !  from  the  land  of  Sinim. 

Thus,  there  is  a  general  declaration,  from 
afar,  including  the  parts,  the  north,  the  west, 
and  the  land  of  Sinim.  The  interpretations 
of  the  last,  as  already  remarked,  are  three;* 

1.  Mount   Sinai,    and  the   Desert  of   Sin. 

2.  Egypt.    3.  China. 

*  The  only  other  interpretations  I  have  seen,  are  those 
of  M.  Henry  and  Adam  Clarke.  The  opinion  of  the  for- 
mer, that '  some  province  of  Babylon  is  meant,'  is  untena- 


THE    COUNTRY   DESIGNATED.  15 

I.  The  chief  arguments  to  prove  that  Si- 
nai, and  the  region  adjacent,  is  meant,  are 
that  the  context  requires  a  southern  country, 
while  the  similarity  of  the  names  Sinai  and 
Sin  with  Sinim,  makes  it  probable  that  this 
is  the  region  referred  to.  It  is  assumed, 
that  'from  afar'  means  'from  the  east;'  hav- 
ing thus  the  north,  east,  and  west,  the  south 
must  also  be  contained  in  the  prophecy,  and 
as  the  Desert  of  Sin  lies  south  of  Judea 
it  must  be  the  land  of  Sinim.  There  would 
be  some  force  in  this  argument,  were  it  cer- 
tain that  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth  are 
referred  to;  but  this  is  by  no  means  certain, 
and  as  it  is  gratuitous  to  assert  that  'from 
afar?  means  'from  the  east/  it  is  equally 
so,  to  say  that  '  the  land  of  Sinim '  must 
be  a  southern  land.  The  second  argument 
is  quite  as  weak :  a  similarity  in  the  names 
there  is,  but  nothing  more;  Sin  and  Sinai  are 
not  Sinim,  and  it  is  quite  irrelevant  to  say, 
that  Sinim  is  the  plural  of  Sin,  for  there 
were  not  two  Deserts  of  Sin,  and  why  should 
the  plural  be  used?  The  objections  against 

ble,  as  the  whole  of  Babylon  is  included  in  *  the  north.' 
Dr.  Clarke  shall  speak  for  himself:  *  Sin  signifies  a  bush, 
and  Sinim,  bushes,  woods,  &c.  Probably  this  means  that 
the  land  where  several  of  the  lost  Jews  dwell,  is  a  woodland. 
The  ten  tribes  are  gone  no  one  knows  whither.  On  the  slave 
coast  of  Africa,  some  Jewish  rites  appear  among  the  peo- 
ple, and  all  the  males  are  circumcised.  The  whole  of  this 
land,  as  it  appears  from  the  coast,  may  be  emphatically 
called  c^D  yux  crets  simm,  the  land  of  bushes,  as  it  is 
all  covered  with  bushes  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach.  Many 
of  the  Indians  of  North  America,  which  is  also  a  wood- 
land, have  a  great  profusion  of  rites,  apparently  in  their 
basis  Jewish.  May  not  these  be  the  countries  intended  ?' 


16  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

this  view  are  serious.  1.  If  the  remark  al- 
ready made  be  correct,  that  '  from  afar '  is  a 
general  term,  including  those  that  follow, 
then  the  north,  the  west,  and  the  land  of  Si- 
nim,  must  also  be  afar  off.  But  the  Desert  of 
Sin  was  near  to  Jerusalem.  A  few  days' 
journey  brought  the  Arabians  to  Jerusalem, 
and  a  few  days'  journey  carried  them  thence 
to  the  extreme  limits  of  their  land.  2.  The 
prophecy  is  of  great  things,  the  conversion 
of  many  nations  unto  God.  But  Arabia,  and 
especially  the  region  around  Sinai,  has  few 
inhabitants,  and  its  political  importance  is 
small,  while  the  Desert  of  Sin  would  never 
have  been  heard  of,  but  for  its  connexion 
with  the  history  of  Israel  in  their  wanderings ; 
how  then  can  we  suppose  a  country  so  in- 
significant to  be  singled  out  in  a  prophecy 
whose  scope  is  so  comprehensive?  3.  Nor 
is  it  unworthy  of  notice  that  this  opinion  has 
never  been  general  in  the  Christian  church  ; 
excepting  Jerome  and  Grotius,  the  writer 
has  observed  almost  no  names  of  note  in  its 
favour.  That  the  Chaldee  and  Vulgate  ver- 
sions suppose  a  southern  land  to  be  meant, 
(while  it  does  not  show  that  even  they 
thought  Arabia  to  be  that  land,)  only  proves 
that  the  authors  of  those  versions  were  as  ill 
informed,  as  were  the  authors  of  the  Septua- 
gint  and  Arabic  versions,  who  decide  in  fa- 
vour of  the  Persians. 

II.  The  opinion  that  Egypt  is  meant,  is 
more  probable  than  the  preceding,  and  has 
the  support  of  more  eminent  names;  the 
weight  of  authority  is  certainly  in  its  favour. 


THE    COUNTRY    DESIGNATED.  17 

But  the  arguments  are  nearly  the  same  as 
those  just  answered.  1.  The  context  requires 
a  southern  land.  2.  Sin,  Ezek.  xxx.  15, 
which  certainly  is  a  city  of  Egypt,  very 
nearly  resembles  Sinim,  while  Syene,  also  a 
city  of  Egypt,  is  a  cognate  word.  3.  Sinim 
being  the  plural  form,  is  used  in  reference  to 
the  division  of  Egypt  into  two  parts;  'from 
the  land  of  Sinim/  is  from  the  land  of  the 
two  Sin,  that  is,  from  upper  and  lower  Egypt. 
The  objection  against  the  previous  view,  that 
the  inhabitants  of  Arabia  are  few,  and  its 
political  importance  small,  is  not  applicable 
to  Egypt,  for  its  population  has  been  im- 
mense, and  its  rank  among  the  nations  high, 
while  its  conversion  is  foretold  in  the  Scrip- 
tures as  an  event  of  great  importance.  It 
does  not  appear,  however,  that  the  arguments 
in  favour  of  this  position  are  sufficient,  while 
the  objections  are  certainly  strong.  That  the 
context  requires  a  southern  country  has  al- 
ready been  shown  to  be  incorrect.  As  to 
the  second  argument:  Sin  (Ezek.  xxx.  15, 
16,)  is  not  a  name  of  Egypt,  but  simply  of 
one  of  its  cities,  nor  docs  it  appear  to  have 
been  often  used,  for  we  meet  it  only  once. 
Syene  is  also  the  name  of  a  city  or  fortress 
in  Egypt,  but  neither  of  these  names  was 
ever  applied  to  the  country  itself.  Even  had 
they  been  used  to  denote  Egypt,  this  also 
would  not  be  sufficient,  for  though  they  re- 
semble the  word  used  in  the  prophecy,  they 
are  not  the  same.  The  remark  that  the  plu- 
ral form  has  reference  to  the  division  of  Egypt 
into  upper  and  lower  is  merely  fanciful: 


18  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

there  were  not  two  places  named  Sin  in 
Egypt. 

The  objections  against  this  view  are,  1. 
Egypt  was  never  called  by  any  name  resem- 
bling Siriim.  A  sound  reasoner  will  not  ar- 
gue that  because  one  of  its  cities  was  called 
Sin  or  Syene,  the  country  itself  bore  the  same 
name,  and  must  be  intended  in  the  prophecy. 
It  would  be  easy  in  this  way  to  prove  that 
China  is  the  country  meant,  for  here  not 
merely  one  or  two,  but  many  cities,  districts, 
and  departments,  are  called  by  names  resem- 
bling Sinim.  2.  Even  granting  that  Egypt 
was  called  Sin,  it  was  not  afar  off.  A  little 
more  distant  than  Arabia,  the  Egyptians 
were  still  the  near  neighbours  of  the  Israel- 
ites, and  the  latter  were  prone  in  every 
emergency,  to  'go  down  to  Egypt/  for  help. 
3.  The  context  appears  to  point  in  another 
direction.  It  speaks  of  remote  nations,  and 
arranges  them  in  three  divisions.  Egypt  falls 
as  naturally  into  the  western  or  maritime,  as 
into  the  southern.  But  if  Egypt  be  the  land 
of  Sinim,  the  division  is  very  unequal.  We 
shall  then  have  the  north,  the  west,  and  the 
land  of  Egypt,  but  where  is  all  the  vast  pop- 
ulation eastward  and  southward  from  the 
land  of  Canaan?  Nearly  half  the  human 
race  is  thus  left  out  of  a  prophecy,  whose 
scope  includes  the  whole. 

III.  That  the  land  of  Sinim  means  China, 
will  not  be  readily  admitted  by  all,  as  may 
be  inferred  from  the  manner  in  which  the 
learned  and  pious  Vitringa  alludes  to  it, 
declaring  it  '  contrary  to  all  appearance  of 


THE    COUNTRY    DESIGNATED.  19 

probability/*      The  objections  urged  by  Vi- 
tringa  and  those  who  think  with  him,  are, 

1.  The   context  requires  a  southern  land. 

2.  The  Chinese  were  not  known  by  any  name 
allied  to  Sinirn  so  early  as  the  times  of  Isaiah. 

3.  There  is  no  sufficient  evidence  that  even 
the   existence   of   the   Chinese   nation   was 
known   to   the   prophet;   how  then  can  he 
be  supposed  to  have  prophesied  definitely  of 
that  which  was  unknown  to  him  ?     The  ob- 
jection that  the  context  requires  a  southern 
land,  has  already  been  shown  to  be  unfound- 
ed, and  needs  no  further  remarks.     An  ex- 
amination of  the  others  will  show  how  much 
weight  is  to  be  attached  to  them. 

That  the  Chinese  did  not  call  themselves 
by  that  name,  either  in  the  time  of  Isaiah  or 
afterwards,  is  freely  admitted,  for  they  have 
never  used  that  name;  but  there  is  evidence 
to  show  that  other  nations  have  always  called 
them  Cin,  Tsin  or  Tshin  (Chin,)  names  closely 
allied  to  Sinim,  and  approaching  it,  as  nearly 
as  the  genius  of  their  respective  languages 
admits.  At  present  all  foreigners  call  them 
the  Chinese,  and  a  person  using  the  Latin 
language  (the  learned  language  of  the  civil- 
ized world,)  uniformly  writes  Slnas  and  #*'- 
nensesy  which  approach  as  nearly  to  the 
Hebrew  word  Sinim  as  the  nature  of  the 
Latin  tongue  allows.  As  far  back  as  authen- 
tic records  extend,  we  find  them  thus  deno- 
minated. They  were  called  pm  or  chin,  by 

*  Mireris  merito  esse  qui  hie  de  Seribus,  sive  Chinensi- 
bus  cogitarint,  ut  Arias  Montanus  contra  omnem  proba- 
bilis  rationis  speciem.  Vit.  in  loc. 


20  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

the  Japanese  in  the  time  of  Marco  Polo,  and 
are  so  called  by  the  Siamese  and  Cochinchi- 
nese.  In  the  Journal  of  Cosrnas  Indicopleus- 
tes,  published  A.  D.  540,  they  are  spoken  of  as 

the  TzinistSGj  Tt^^i-t^^  §s  T^tvitfT'as  ov$£  TtTifE^at 

ovSs  oixsrfat.  "Beyond  the  Tzinistae, there  is 
neither  navigation  nor  habitable  country."* 
In  the  Armenian  history  of  Moses  of  Chorene, 
A.  D.  450,  China  is  called  Tsenia  and  Ze- 
nastan,  and  is  characterized  by  the  produc- 
tion of  silk,  the  opulence  of  the  nation,  and 
their  love  of  peace  above  all  other  nations  of 
the  earth.t  They  are  spoken  of  by  Ptolemy 
as  the  Sinites,  A.  D.  150.J  Aristotle  and 
Eratosthenes,  who  heard  of  them  through  the 
expedition  of  Alexander,  describe  them  as  the 
©wx$  or  Thinsz\  and  in  the  Institutes  of  Menu 
they  are  spoken  of  as  the  Chinas^  while  to 
the  Arabians  and  the  Persians  they  have 
been  known  from  time  immemorial  under 
the  names  Jin,  Chin,  and  Sin.^ 

It  is  thus  apparent,  that  from  a  very  early 
age  the  Chinese  have  been  known  to  other 
nations  by  names  resembling  that  used  in  the 
prophecy,  and  it  remains  to  be  ascertained, 

*  Montfaucon,  Nov.  Cod.  Patrum,  ii.  138,  quoted  in 
Vincent's  History  of  the  Commerce  and  Navigation  of  the 
Ancients',  vol.  ii.,  p.  575. 

t  See  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
ch.  13,  note  58. 

t  See  his  Geography,  lib.  7,  chap.  ii.  It  should  how- 
ever be  said  that  it  is  disputed  among  scholars  whether  by 
the  Sinites,  Ptolemy  means  the  Chinese,  or  the  Cochinchi- 
nese.  See  Anthon's  Classical  Diet.,  and  Vincent  loc.  cit. 

|j  See  Vincent,  loc.  cit. 

§  Gesenius  Lexicon,  art.  po- 

V  D'Herbelot,  Biblioth.  Orient,  article  Sin, 


THE    COUNTRY   DESIGNATED.  21 

when  or  why  they  were  so  called.  The  pro- 
bability is  that  these  names  are  derived  from 
the  family  of  Tsin,  the  first  that  reigned 
over  the  whole  of  China,  and  which  from  the 
building  of  the  Great  Wall,  and  other  remark- 
able events,  must  have  been  known  to  sur- 
rounding nations.  It  is  true  that  the  first 
emperor  of  the  Tsin  dynasty  commenced  his 
reign  B.  c.  246,  long  after  the  times  of  Isaiah; 
but  previous  to  that  time  his  family  was 
widely  known.  According  to  Grosier,  the 
empire  was  at  first  composed  of  many  petty 
states  under  various  rulers,  among  which  was 
the  family  of  Tsin,  which  took  that  name 
under  Feitsz'  about  B.  c.  900.  The  princes 
of  this  family  were  powerful  and  ambitious, 
and  took  part  in  all  the  wars  and  great  oc- 
currences of  the  empire.*  The  following  re- 
marks by  Claude  Visdelou  are  important 
here. 

"  The  family  of  the  kings  of  Tsin  was  illus- 
trious by  its  nobility  and  power.  Its  founder 
was  Taye,  son  of  emperor  Chuen  Hu.  It 
existed  in  great  splendour  more  than  a  thou- 
sand years,  and  was  only  inferior  to  the  royal 
dignity.  Feitsz',  a  prince  of  this  family,  had 
the  superintendence  of  the  stud  of  the  em- 
peror Hiauwang,  and  as  a  mark  of  favour, 
the  emperor  conferred  upon  him  the  sove- 
reignty of  the  city  of  Tsinchau  in  mesne  te- 
nure (en  titre  d'arriere  fief,)  with  the  title  of 
sub-tributary  king.  One  hundred  and  twenty- 
two  years  afterwards  (about  B.  c.  770;)  Siang- 

*  Grosier,  La  Chine,  vol.  i.  p.  96. 


22  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

kwan,  petit  roi  of  Tsinchau,  (having  by  his 
bravery  revenged  the  insults  offered  to  the 
emperor  Pingwang  by  the  Tartars,  who  slew 
his  father  Yewwang,)  was  created  king  in 
full  tenure,  and  without  limitation  or  excep- 
tion. The  same  emperor  abandoning  Sigan 
fu  the  capital  of  his  empire  to  transport  his 
seat  to  Lohyang,  (now  called  Honan  fu,)  ren- 
dered him  master  of  the  large  province  of 
Shensi,  which  had  composed  the  proper  king- 
dom of  the  emperor.  He  thus  became  very 
powerful,  but  though  his  fortune  changed,  he 
did  not  change  his  title,  retaining  always  that 
of  the  city  of  Tsinchau,  which  had  been  the 
foundation  of  his  elevation.  The  kingdom 
of  Tsin  soon  became  celebrated,  and  being 
the  place  of  the  first  arrival  of  the  people  of 
the  western  countries,  it  seems  probable  that 
those  who  saw  no  more  of  China  than  the 
realm  of  Tsin,  extended  this  name  to  all  the 
rest,  and  called  the  whole  empire  Tsin  or 
Tshin."t 

Such  is  the  statement  of  the  learned  Jesuit, 
which  alone  is  sufficient  greatly  to  weaken  the 
objection  that  China  was  not  known  by  any 
such  name  in  the  days  of  Isaiah.  The  em- 
pire has  been  long  and  widely  known  to 
other  nations,  by  names,  in  all  probability 
derived  from  princes  who  ruled  before  the 
birth  of  the  prophet.  These  names  are  closely 
allied  to  the  Sinim  of  the  prophecy,  while  no 
other  nations  (certainly  not  Egypt  or  Arabia) 
have  been  thus  called. 

t  D'Herbelot,  Biblioth.  Orient,  tome  4.,  p.  8. 


THE    COUNTRY    DESIGNATED.  23 

It  is  however  still  further  objected  that 
China  could  not  have  been  known  to  the 
prophet  under  any  name,  because  there  was 
so  little  intercourse  between  the  east  and  the 
west  in  those  early  ages.  On  this  point  our 
knowledge  is  indefinite.  There  is  no  proof 
that  Isaiah  had  heard  of  China,  and  there  is 
none  that  he  had  not.  In  the  absence  or  de- 
struction of  all  records  of  those  ages,  it  is 
scarcely  fair  to  assert,  that  there  was  no  in- 
tercourse because  we  know  of  none.  The 
probability  is  that  there  was  intercourse.  In 
the  times  of  Pliny  and  Virgil,  the  matrons  of 
Rome  were  clothed  in  the  silks  of  China,  but 
luxury  was  no  more  extravagant  in  Rome  in 
the  days  of  Augustus  than  it  was  in  Assyria 
eight  hundred  years  before.  Why  may  not 
the  intercourse  that  taught  Rome  in  the 
Augustan  age  who  the  Chinese  were,  have 
communicated  the  same  knowledge  to  the 
Assyrians  in  the  days  of  Isaiah?  "West- 
ward the  course  of  empire  takes  its  way," 
and  the  eastern  empire  of  Assyria  may  have 
taken  the  place  of  a  monarchy  still  further 
eastward.  The  Persian  histories  tell  us  that 
one  of  their  ancient  monarchs  ruled  over 
China,*  as  well  as  his  own  country,  and 
though  this  may  pass  for  an  exaggeration  of 
national  vanity,  it  is  still  an  evidence  that  in 
very  ancient  times  China  was  known  to  the 
nations  with  whom  the  Jews  had  intercourse. 
Besides,  it  is  known  that  there  were  Jews  in 
China  as  early  as  B.  c.  258,t  and  what  reason 

*  D'Herbelot,  Bib,  Orient,  art.  Sin  and  Fagfour. 
t  Edin.  Encyc.,  vol.  vi.  p.  95. 


24  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

is  there  for  supposing  them  to  be  the  first  of 
that  wide  spreading  race  who  entered  China? 
Why  may  we  not  suppose  that  the  "  merchant 
princes"  of  Tyre,  that  ancient  Venice,  had 
dealings  with  China;  or  how  can  we  be  as- 
sured that  the  ships  of  Solomon  sailing  from 
the  Red  Sea,  and  spending  three  years  on 
their  voyages,  (1  Kings  ix.  26,  2  Chron.  ix. 
22,)  did  not  visit  ports  which  if  not  in  China, 
were  at  least  frequented  by  the  busy  and 
trading  Chinese? 

These  considerations  remove  much  of  the 
force  of  the  objection  that  China  was  un- 
known to  the  prophet.  It  is  however  admit- 
ted that  our  proof  of  his  knowledge  of  this 
great  and  ancient  empire  is  imperfect,  and 
this  is  the  more  readily  done,  because  there 
is  a  strong  reason  for  supposing  China  to  be 
intended  in  the  prophecy,  though  both  its 
name  and  existence  were  unknown  to  the 
Jews.  If  known,  our  position  is  all  the 
stronger;  if  unknown,  the  strongest  argument 
is  still  in  force. 

The  Hebrew  prophets  often  spoke  of  men 
and  of  nations,  before  those  men  and  nations 
had  an  existence,  and  when  they  themselves 
could  not  know  with  certainty  whereof  they 
spoke.  They  were  the  agents  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  who  by  their  mouth  revealed  things 
dark  at  first,  but  clear  in  after  ages,  and  thus 
the  faith  of  God's  people  in  all  ages  receives 
new  and  striking  proofs  of  the  Divine  wis- 
dom and  foreknowledge.  A  nameless  pro- 
phet foretold  the  name  and  actions  of  Josiah 
king  of  Judah;  more  than  three  hundred  years 


THE    COUNTRY    DESIGNATED.  25 

before  his  birth;  1  Kings  xiii.  2.  Isaiah  pre- 
dicted the  conquest  of  Cyrus,  mentioning  that 
monarch  by  name,  full  two  hundred  years 
before  his  birth,  and  long  before  the  nation 
over  which  he  was  to  rule,  was  celebrated  in 
history;  Is.  xliv.  28;  xlv.  1.  The  Romans 
were  described  and  their  victories  predicted 
hundreds  of  years  before  they  existed  as  a 
nation.  Lev.xxvi.;  Deut.xxviii.;Dari.xi.  Jer- 
emiah foretells  the  downfall  of  Babylon  under 
the  mystic  name  Sheshach  (Jer.  li.  41);  and 
Zechariah  the  overthrow  of  Persia  under  that 
of  Hadrach;  (Zech.  ix.  1);  although  those 
countries  were  never  known  by  those  names; 
and  a  large  part  of  the  prophecies  of  Daniel 
relates  to  kingdoms  not  in  existence  when  he 
wrote. 

The  connexion  of  these  remarks  with  the 
subject  in  hand  is  obvious.  Granting  that 
Isaiah  knew  nothing  of  China,  by  that  or  any 
other  name,  why  may  we  not  suppose  him 
inspired  to  predict  the  success  of  the  gospel 
there?  Why  should  not  the  omniscient  Spirit 
of  God,  when  foretelling  the  conversion  of  a 
populous  empire,  use  the  name  by  which  it 
should  afterwards  be  universally  known? 
There  is  nothing  in  the  analogy  of  prophecy 
that  militates  against  this  supposition,  for  other 
nations  had  a  place  in  prophecy  before  their 
national  existence  commenced.  This  then  is 
our  position.  It  has  been  shown  that  China 
was  anciently  known  by  the  name  Siri  or 
Tsin.  It  has  been  shown  to  be  possible,  if 
not  probable,  that  it  was  known  to  Isaiah  by 
3 


26  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

that  name.  The  analogy  of  prophecy  has 
been  adduced  to  show,  that  even  if  unknown 
to  the  prophet,  he  might  have  spoken  of  it  by 
name.  These  considerations  remove  every 
objection  urged  against  the  supposition  that 
China  is  intended  in  the  prophecy,  while  the 
following  remarks  are  advanced  to  prove  that 
it  is  intended  there. 

(1.)  There  are  strong  objections  against 
supposing  either  Egypt  or  Arabia  to  be  the 
"land  of  Sinim;"  we  are  therefore  led  to 
think  of  China. 

(2.)  The  name  in  the  prophecy  is  almost 
precisely  the  common  and  long  established 
name  of  China. 

(3.)  The  supposition  that  China  is  meant 
agrees  with  the  context  in  three  particulars: 
1.  A  distant  land  is  spoken  of.  The  wor- 
shippers of  God  shall  come  from  the  distant 
north,  the  distant  west,  and  the  far  off  land  of 
Sinim.  2.  These  distant  parts  of  the  earth 
are  spoken  of  in  three  divisions,  which  may 
be  supposed  to  be  nearly  equal, — the  north 
one-third,  the  west  one-third,  and  the  land  of 
Sinim  one-third.  The  common  estimates  of 
the  population  of  China  give  this  empire  one- 
third  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  globe.  3.  The 
geography  of  the  prophecy,  so  to  speak,  fa- 
vours this  interpretation;  including  in  "the 
north"  all  the  countries  north  and  northeast 
of  Palestine,  (as  is  always  done  in  the  Old 
Testament,  when  the  north  is  spoken  of,)  we 
have  geographically  one-third  of  the  world. 
Including  in  "the  west"  all  the  maritime 


THE    COUNTRY    DESIGNATED.  27 

countries  west  of  Judea,  we  have  another 
third.  Including  in  the  "land  of  Sinim," 
China  and  the  countries  adjacent,  we  have 
the  remaining  third.  Thus  if  the  land  of 
Sinini  means  China,  then  both  in  distance, 
population,  and  position,  the  separate  clauses 
of  the  prophecy  are  coextensive  with  the  first 
member,and  comprise  the  circuit  of  the  world ; 
but  if  it  means  Egypt  or  Arabia  the  prophecy 
has  not  that  symmetry  in  its  parts,  nor  com- 
pleteness in  its  scope,  which  is  given  by  the 
interpretation  we  prefer. 

The  missionary  in  China  finds  peculiar 
difficulties  in  his  path,  and  a  special  promise 
of  God  to  this  empire  is  a  support  and  en- 
couragement in  labour  not  to  be  lightly  re- 
garded. It  is  manifest  also  that  the  prophecy 
is  one  concerning  glorious  things,  for  it  is  im- 
mediately followed  by  an  ascription  of  praise 
to  God,  couched  in  emphatic  language :  Sing, 
Ok  heavens!  and  be  joyful,  Oh  earth!  and 
break  forth  into  singing,  Oh  mountains! 
for  the  Lord  hath  comforted  his  people,  and 
will  have  mercy  on  his  afflicted.  Such  songs 
of  praise  often  follow  the  predictions  of  the 
triumphs  of  the  gospel,  (e.  g.  Ps.  Ixviii.  31.) 
for  however  little  these  may  be  regarded 
among  men,  they  are  greatly  esteemed  in  the 
church,  and  among  the  angels  of  God. 


28 


CHAPTER   II. 


FULFILMENT     OF     THE     PROPHECY    OF    ISAIAH 
CONCERNING    THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

AN  attempt  has  been  made  to  show  that  the 
land  of  Sinim,  Isaiah  xlix.  12,  is  China,  and 
that  that  prophecy  contains  a  distinct  predic- 
tion of  the  conversion  of  this  nation  to  God. 
It  is  a  question  of  no  small  interest  whether 
this  "  great  and  precious  promise"  has  been 
either  in  whole  or  in  part  accomplished,  or 
whether  we  must  still  look  forward  to  the 
time  when  it  shall  be  said  "Behold  these! 
from  the  land  of  Sinim." 

The  prophecies  of  the  sacred  Scriptures  are 
of  various  kinds.  Some  are  fulfilled  in  a 
single  event,  while  others  require  years,  and 
even  ages  for  their  accomplishment.  The 
birth  of  one  individual  may  exhaust  the 
meaning  of  one,  while  the  revolution  of  cen- 
turies shall  fail  to  show  all  that  another  con- 
tains.* Prophecies  of  the  latter  class  are 

*  This  is  well  exemplified  in  the  twofold  prophecy  of 
Jacob,  Gen.  xlix.  10,  "The  sceptre  shall  not  depart  from 
Judah,  till  Shiloh  come:  and  to  him  shall  the  gathering  of 
the  nations  be."  The  first  clause  was  comple:ely  fulfilled 
at  the  birth  of  Christ,  the  second  is  still  in  its  course  of 
accomplishment. 


PROPHECY    FULFILLED.  29 

gradually  fulfilled,  and  he  who  would  under- 
stand such  fulfilment  must  study  the  whole 
history  of  the  nation  or  object  to  which  they 
refer,  and  selecting  the  appropriate  events, 
must  so  combine  them,  as  to  form  a  picture 
of  what  the  prophet  saw.  Of  this  kind  is  the 
prophecy  in  question.  Its  complete  fulfilment 
has  not  yet  been  seen,  but  an  account  of  what 
has  already  occurred  may  assist  to  an  under- 
standing of  what  is  yet  to  come. 

The  scope  of  the  context  allows  us  to  think 
of  nothing  less  than  the  conversion  of  the 
whole  land  of  Sinim.  It  is  evident  that  it 
it  inclu*des  the  conversion  of  each  one  of  her 
inhabitants,  from  the  time  when  the  first  rays 
of  truth  entered  a  Chinese  heart,  till  that  glo- 
rious period,  when  none  but  true  worship- 
pers shall  stand  on  all  her  mountain  tops  and 
fertile  plains.  Does  a  company  of  her  sons, 
however  few  in  number,  renounce  idolatry 
and  worship  Jehovah  ?  Then  it  is  j  ustly  said, 
"  Behold  these,  from  the  land  of  Sinim ;"  and 
surely  when  the  whole  empire  shall  have  re- 
ceived the  gospel,  "  the  heavens  shall  sing, 
the  earth  shall  be  joyful,  and  the  mountains 
shall  break  forth  into  singing."  An  inquiry 
therefore  into  the  fulfilment  of  this  prophecy, 
must  include  an  examination  of  every  effort 
t®  extend  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God, 
and  of  the  success  of  those  efforts,  however 
small;  and  it  will  also  include  a  just  appre- 
ciation of  what  has  been  done,  by  all  who 
possess  a  knowledge  of  the  truth,  however 
much  of  error  may  be  mingled  in  their  creed- 


30  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

First  in  the  order  of  time,  we  must  consider 
the  history  of 

THE    JEWS    IN    CHINA. 

It  is  not  certainly  known  when  the  first 
seeds  of  divine  truth  were  planted  in  China. 
We  shall  not  go  back  with  those  who  main- 
tain that  this  country  was  peopled  by  the  im- 
mediate descendants  of  Noah,  who  possessed 
the  knowledge  of  Jehovah  in  its  purity,  and 
thus  founded  the  comparatively  pure  system 
of  morality  taught  by  the  Chinese  sages.  Nor 
need  we  linger  long  in  considering  the  ppinion 
that  some  wandering  companies  of  the  ten 
tribes  of  Israel,  after  their  dispersion  by  the 
Assyrians  (B.  c.  742,  see  2  Kings  xvii.)  found 
their  way  to  the  Celestial  empire.  To  believe 
this  would  well  agree  with  the  ancient  threat- 
ening, "  the  Lord  shall  scatter  thee  among  all 
nations,  from  one  end  of  the  earth  even  unto 
the  other,"  Deut.  xxviii.  64.  Admitting  its 
probability,  we  might  readily  explain  the 
excellence  of  many  of  the  Chinese  rules  of 
morality.  Some  of  these  wandering  Israel- 
ites, doubtless  brought  with  them  the  law  of 
God,  and  "  called  it  to  mind  among  the  na- 
tions whither  the  Lord  their  God  had  driven 
them,"  Deut.  xxx.  1.  As  they  came  to  China 
(on  this  supposition)  but  a  few  years  or  per- 
haps generations  before  Confucius  lived,  he 
may  have  been  more  indebted  to  their  exam- 
ples and  instructions  than  is  commonly  sup- 
posed. 

It  is  well  ascertained  that  certain  Jews  did 


THE    JEWS    IN    CHINA.  31 

enter  China  as  early  as  B.  c.  258.*  Their 
descendants  still  remain  a  "peculiar"  race  in 
the  midst  of  those  around  them,  and  even  yet 
distinguished  by  the  trait  which  took  its  origin 
in  Jacob's  time.  "  The  children  of  Israel  ate 
not  of  the  sinew  which  shrank."  Gen.  xxxii. 
32.  They  call  themselves  the  Tidu-kin  kidu, 
"the  sect  which  plucks  out  the  sinew."  Their 
residence  is  at  Kalfung  fu  the  capital  of  Ho- 
nan.  Some  of  them  have  attained  an  honour- 
able rank  in  literature,  and  several  have  been 
governors  of  provinces  and  ministers  of  state, 
but  at  present  they  are  few  in  number,  de- 
graded in  condition,  and  their  wisest  men  are 
very  ignorant  of  their  own  religion.  Yet  that 
they  have  existed  a  separate  people  so  long 
with  nothing  but  their  religion  to  hold  them 
together,  is  a  sufficient  proof  that  they  were 
once  thoroughly  imbued  with  its  principles. 
When  they  entered  the  country,  B.  c.  258, 
theirs  was  the  true  religion.  It  has  lost  none 
of  its  truth  since  that  time,  though  it  may  not 
now  claim  to  be  the  only  true  religion,  or  to 
be  alone  sufficient  for  salvation.  It  is  unrea- 
sonable to  suppose  that  a  community  pos- 
sessing and  valuing  the  truth,  should  live  for 
hundreds  of  years  in  the  heart  of  China,  and 
yet  exert  no  beneficial  influence  on  those 
around  them.  Their  influence  is  now  small; 
it  may  have  been  always  small;  but  it  could 
never  have  been  totally  unfelt.  Philosophers 

*  Edinb.  Encyc.  vol.  vi.  p.  98.  Grosier  however,  torn, 
iv.,  p.  484,  says  it  was  under  the  Han  dynasty  which 
acquired  power  about  the  year  B.  c.  26G. 


32  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

say  that  the  breath  of  an  idle  word  mingles 
with  the  moving  air  and  leaves  its  small  but 
certain  impress,  not  merely  on  the  flying  sand 
and  changing  waves,  but  on  the  solid  rock; 
and  surely,  the  truth  of  God,  even  though 
held  in  ignorance  or  unrighteousness,  cannot 
be  wholly  bound.  It  is  not  for  us  to  say, 
what  is  the  limit  or  extent  of  its  influence  in 
the  present  case,  but  the  eye  of  God  sees  it, 
and  in  his  book  it  is  recorded,  to  appear  when 
the  secrets  of  all  hearts  are  made  known.  In 
the  influence  of  that  truth  as  diffused  by  the 
Jews  in  China,  even  though  it  extended  to 
the  saving  illumination  of  but  a  single  soul, 
we  may  yet  recognize  the  first  fulfilment  of 
the  prophecy  of  Isaiah.* 

The  fact  of  the  existence  of  a  colony  of 
Jews  in  China,  is  one  of  much  importance, 
and  gives  rise  to  interesting  conjecture.  If 
the  opinion  be  well  founded,  which  is  of  late 
gaining  ground  in  the  church,  that  the  Jews 
are  to  be  restored  to  their  own  land,  then  un- 
doubtedly the  Chinese  Jews  as  well  as  all 
others  are  to  be  brought  back.  It  may  be 
this  to  which  the  prophet  specially  refers.  In 
vision  he  stood  upon  the  walls  of  Jerusalem. 
Lifting  up  his  eyes  round  about,  he  saw  her 
long  lost  children  gathering  themselves  to- 
gether, and  coming  unto  her.  From  each 

*  For  a  fuller  account  of  the  Jews  in  China,  the  reader 
is  referred  to  Grosier,  La  Chine,  torn,  iv.,  p.  484.  Dr. 
Morrison  and  Mr.  Milne  have  also  given  short  notices, 
agreeing1  substantially  with  the  accounts  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Missionaries.  See  Indo-Chinese  Gleaner,  vol  i. 
p.  16,— Chin.  Rep.  vol.  xii.  p.  79. 


EARLY    CHRISTIANS    IN    CHINA.  33 

point  of  the  compass  they  came  flocking  as 
clouds,  and  as  doves  to  their  windows.  la 
amazement  the  desolate  Jewish  church  ex- 
claims, "Behold  I  was  left  alone,  these  where 
had  they  been?"  And  the  answer  is,  " Be- 
hold these!  come  from  afar;  and  lo  these! 
from  the  north  and  from  the  west:  and  these ! 
from  the  land  of  Sinim." 

Whether  this  restoration  is  to  be  before  or 
after,  whether  it  is  to  be  the  cause  or  the  con- 
sequence of  the  conversion  of  the  gentiles, 
does  not  seem  to  be  certainly  known;  but  in 
either  case  it  shall  be  the  cause  of  great  ad- 
ditions to  the  happiness  of  the  church,  and 
the  glory  of  God.  It  may  be  that  the  arous- 
ing of  the  Chinese  Jews  from  their  long  leth- 
argy, and  their  emigration  in  a  body  to  their 
own  land,  is  one  of  the  means  by  which  God 
designs  to  awaken  the  Chinese  nation,  and  to 
bring  them  also  to  a  knowledge  of  Messiah 
the  prince.  "  If  the  fall  of  them  be  the  riches 
of  the  world,  and  the  diminishing  of  them 
the  riches  of  the  Gentiles,  how  much  more 
their  fulness!"  Rom.  xi.  12. 

EARLY    CHRISTIANS    IN    CHINA. 

Little  is  known  with  certainty  as  to  the 
period  when  Christianity  was  first  preached 
in  China.  Tradition  goes  farther  back  than 
historical  records,  but  the  accounts  of  both 
are  so  indefinite  that  we  scarce  know  how  to 
estimate  them.  It  is  the  constant  tradition 
of  the  Syrian  church,  that  the  apostle  Thomas 
not  only  preached  the  gospel  in  India,  but  that 
4 


34  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

he  also  carried  it  to  China,  and  after  establish- 
ing it  there, sent  other  labourers  to  perfect  what 
he  had  commenced.  "The  Christians  of  Mala- 
bar celebrate  this  in  their  ordinary  worship, 
and  when  the  Portugese  first  knew  them, 
their  primate  styled  himself  "Metropolitan 
of  India  and  China."*  It  is  the  opinion  of 
Mosheim  that  neither  Thomas  nor  any  other 
apostle  entered  China.  There  is  no  proof  on 
this  point,  yet  we  are  strongly  inclined  to  think 
that  the  gospel  was  preached  in  China,  by 
some  of  the  witnesses  of  our  Lord's  resurrec- 
tion. The  books  of  the  New  Testament  re- 
cord the  labours  of  Paul  and  Peter,  and  James 
and  John  alone,  and  they  speak  of  none  others 
as  labouring  in  the  same  districts.  It  was  the 
constant  effort  of  Paul  to  preach  the  gospel, 
not  where  Christ  was  named,  lest  he  should 
build  upon  another  man's  foundation.  Horn, 
xv.  20.  Where  then  were  Philip  and  Bar- 
tholomew, Thomas  and  Matthew,  James  the 
son  of  Alpheus,  and  Lebbeus  whose  surname 
was  Thaddeus,  Simon  the  Canaanite  and  An- 
drew the  brother  of  Peter,  and  Matthias  cho- 
sen to  fill  the  vacant  seat  of  Judas  Iscariot  ? 
These  all  were  apostles.  They  all  were  com- 
missioned "  to  go  into  all  the  world :"  they 
too  could  speak  with  tongues.  Is  it  not  fair 
to  conclude,that  they  laboured  as  diligently  as 
the  others,  and  that,  since  we  hear  little  of 
their  labours,  they  went  to  many  places  from 

*  Mosheim,  Ecc.  History  (by  Murdock),  vol.  ii.,  p.  422, 
note  2.  See  also  the  testimonies  from  the  churches  of 
India,  quoted  in  Kircher's  China  Illustrata,  pp.  56,  57. 


EARLY    CHRISTIANS    IN    CHINA.  35 

which  no  account  of  them  has  reached  us? 
Mosheim,  who  does  not  believe  that  Thomas 
went  to  China,  and  even  doubts  whether  he 
went  to  India,  says  "notwithstanding,  we  may 
believe  that  at  an  early  period  the  Christian 
religion  extended  to  the  Chinese,  Seres,  and 
Tartars.  There  are  various  arguments  col- 
lected from  learned  men  to  show  that  the 
Christian  faith  was  carried  to  China,  if  not  by 
the  apostle  Thomas,  by  the  first  teachers  of 
Christianity.  Arnobius,  writing  about  A.  D. 
300,  speaks  of  "the  Christian  deeds  done  in 
India,  and  among  the  Seres,  Persians,  and 
Medes."*  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the 
country  of  the  Seres  included  the  province  of 
Shensi  in  China,  and  the  mention  of  them  by 
Arnobius,  (who  died  A.  D.  326,)  shows  that 
before  his  time,  the  gospel  had  been  carried 
there.  We  may  well  believe,  that  in  China, 
as  elsewhere,  the  efforts  of  the  first  preachers 
were  attended  with  success. 

It  is  well  known  that  there  were  Christian 
monks  in  China,  in  the  time  of  Justinian.  It . 
was  to  the  enterprise  of  two  of  them,  who 
brought  the  eggs  of  the  silkworm  in  a  hollow 
cane  to  Constantinople,  that  western  nations 
are  indebted  for  their  knowledge  of  the  culti- 
vation of  silk.  They  reached  Constantinople 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  552. t  They  had  then 
resided  long  in  China,  and  it  is  natural  to  sup- 
pose they  were  neither  the  first,  nor  the  only 
ones  who  went  to  that  land,  while  it  is  almost 

*  Mosheim's  Ecc.  Tart,  Historia,  pp.  6,  7. 

t  Gibbon's  Hist,  Dec.  and  Fall,  ch,  40,  note  76. 


36  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

certain  that  their  chief  object  was  to  spread 
the  gospel  there.  The  success  which  attended 
their  efforts  must  be  left  to  conjecture. 

Such  are  the  faint  rays  which  show  us  the 
state  of  Christianity  in  China  in  the  first  six 
centuries  of  our  era.  The  light  is  dim,  but  if 
such  beams  have  travelled  down  to  us  through 
the  darkness  of  so  many  ages,  it  is  reasonable 
to  believe  that  they  emanated  from  a  brighter 
source. 

NESTORIANS    IN    CHINA. 

The  monks  who  in  A.  D.  552,  carried  the  silk- 
worm from  China,  were  Persians.  There  is 
every  probability  that  they  were  missionaries 
of  the  Nestorian  church.  It  had  its  theological 
school  at  Edessa,from  which  its  trained  bands 
of  devoted  men  were  sent  into  all  the  East; 
and  when  the  school  at  Edessa  was  destroyed, 
A.  D.  489,  another  was  erected  at  Nisibis,  far- 
ther to  the  east,  and  not  less  distinguished  for 
activity  and  zeal.* 

There  are  several  testimonies  which  show 
that  at  a  very  early  period  the  Nestorians  had 
extended  their  efforts  as  far  as  China.  Ebed- 
jesus  Sobiensis  in  his  Epitome  Canonum, says, 
"Salibazacha  the  Catholic  (i.  e.the  Nestorian 
patriarch)  created  the  Metropolitan  sees  of 
Sina  and  Samarkand,  though  some  say  they 
were  constituted  by  Achseus  and  Silas. "t 
This  is  an  important  testimony  to  the  early 

*  Gieseler's  Ecc,  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  239.    Mosh.  Ecc.  Hist., 
vol.  i.  p.  363. 
f  Mosh,  Ecc.  Tart.  Hist.,  p.  8. 


NESTORIANS    IN    CHINA.  37 

progress  of  the  gospel  in  China,  for  its  date  is 
prior  even  to  the  time  when  the  monks  went 
to  Constantinople.  Achseus  was  archbishop 
of  the  Orthodox  Chaldeans  at  Seleucia,  A.  D. 
411 — 415,  and  Silas  was  a  patriarch  of  the 
Nestorians,  A.  D.  505 — 520.  It  is  very  certain 
that  the  NestOrians  had  a  firm  footing  in  Chi- 
na, long  before  the  time  of  Salibazacha,  (A.  D. 
714 — 727,)  as  will  presently  appear. 

Another  interesting  evidence  on  this  point 
is  found  in  the  list  of  metropolitan  sees  sub- 
ject to  the  Nestorian  patriarch,  which  is  pub- 
lished by  Amro.  In  this,  the  metropolitan  of 
Sina  is  mentioned  along  with  that  of  India. 
But  according  to  Ebedjesus,  "  the  cause  of 
the  precedence  of  the  metropolitan  sees  among 
themselves,  is  owing  to  the  priority  of  their 
foundation."*  As  the  great  antiquity  of  Chris- 
tianity in  India  is  not  to  be  denied,  we  have 
thus  a  strong  proof  of  its  having  at  an  equally 
early  period  taken  root  in  China. 

Our  fullest  account  of  the  early  efforts  of 
the  Nestorians  in  China,  is  derived  from  the 
celebrated  monument  discovered  at  Singan  fu 
in  Shensi,  in  1625.  Doubts  have  been  ex- 
pressed as  to  its  authenticity,  about  which  a 
violent  controversy  prevailed  for  several  years 
after  its  discovery.  The  enemies  of  the  Jes- 
uits charged  them  with  having  fabricated  it 
to  serve  their  own  purposes;  but  this  is  un- 
likely. The  internal  evidence  of  its  authen- 
ticity is  good,  and  the  fact  that  for  several 

*  See  the  list  in  Mosheim's  Ecc.  Tartarorum  Historia, 
p.  8,  note. 


38  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

ages  the  Nestorians  had  their  missionaries  in 
China,  is  sufficient  to  vindicate  for  them,  the 
honour  it  gives  them.  But  though  the  Jesuits 
did  not  fabricate  this  monument,  they  deserve 
reproach  for  claiming  it  as  a  monument  of  the 
success  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  as  Le 
Comte,  Du  Halde,  and  Kircher  have  done. 
Le  Comte,  who  would  never  have  given  the 
term  Catholic  to  the  head  of  a  sect  condemn- 
ed by  the  council  of  Ephesus  as  heretical, 
says  that  the  monument  "records  the  history 
of  a  Catholic  patriarch  in  China."  The  state- 
ment of  Kircher  is  yet  more  objectionable, 
"The  Nestorian  heresy  having  infested  Asia 
with  the  poison  of  its  pestiferous  doctrines, 
and  the  Mohammedan  sect  having  arisen 
about  the  same  time,  the  faithful  followers  of 
Christ  were  driven  away  from  their  own 
lands,  and  spread  the  doctrine  of  Christ  even 
to  China."*  Later  Roman  Catholic  writers 
do  the  Nestorians  the  justice  to  admit  that  the 
monument  in  question  commemorates  their 
exertions.! 

The  Singan  fu  monument  is  a  marble  tablet 
ten  feet  long  and  six  feet  broad,  having  on  the 
upper  portion  a  large  cross  handsomely  en- 
graved, and  beneath,  along  discourse  in  Chi- 
nese, with  numerous  names  in  Syriac  on  the 
side,  and  a  Syriac  inscription  at  the  foot.  A 
fac  simile  is  given  by  Kircher  in  his  China- 
Illustrata,  with  a  translation.  A  literal  and 

*  See  Le  Comte's  memoirs,  p.  342,  and  Kircher's  China 
Illustrata,  p.  92. 

Annales  de  la  Propagation,  vol.  ix.,  p.  308. 


NESTORIANS    IN    CHINA.  39 

also  a  free  translation  is  given  by  P.  Visde- 
Ion  in  D'Herbelot's  Bibliotheque  Orientale. 
After  some  remarks  on  the  principles  of  re- 
ligion, the  fall  of  man,  the  birth  of  Messiah 
in  Judea,  together  with  some  of  the  ceremo- 
nies and  laws  of  Christianity;  the  author 
gives  a  sketch  of  its  introduction  and  progress 
in  China. 

In  the  year  635,  during  the  reign  of  Tait- 
sung,  the  second  emperor  of  the  Tang  dynas- 
ty, and  one  of  the  greatest  moriarchs  that  ever 
sat  on  the  Chinese  throne,  Olopuri,  after  a 
long  journey  arrived  at  the  capital  and  was 
received  with  honour  by  the  emperor.*  To 
quote  the  monument,  "  the  emperor  Taitsung 
illustrated  and  adorned  the  empire  by  his  ad- 
ministration;  clear,  discriminating,  and  sa- 
cred, he  ruled  the  people  with  condescension 
and  kindness.  From  Ta  Tsin  there  was 
a  man  of  exalted  virtue  named  Olopun. 
Observing  the  clear  heavens,  he  brought 
the  true  Scriptures;  watching  narrowly  the 
courses  of  the  winds,  and  the  laws  of  the 
seasons,  he  proceeded  on  his  difficult  and 
dangerous  journey.  In  the  ninth  year  of 
Chinkwan,  (Taitsung,)  he  reached  the  im- 
perial city  Changngan  (now  called  Singan 
fu.)  The  emperor  sent  the  honourable  Fang 

*  "  The  Chinese  annals  report  that  in  the  eighth  year  of 
the  emperor  Taitsung,  there  came  to  China  embassadors 
from  foreign  nations,  whose  air,  shape  and  habits  were 
altogether  strange  to  the  Chinese,  who  had  never  seen  the 
like  before;  and  the  emperor  himself  rejoiced  that  in  his 
reigri,  men  with  fair  hair  and  blue  eyes  arrived  in  his  em- 
pire."  Du  Halde,  vol.  i.,  p.  196, 


40  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

Hiuenling,  a  minister  of  state,  with  the  in- 
signia of  his  office,  to  the  Western  suburbs  of 
of  the  city  to  receive  the  guest,  and  conduct 
him  to  the  palace.  He  examined  the  Scrip- 
tures in  the  royal  library,  and  sought  the  na- 
ture of  the  new  religion  in  the  sacred  hall. 
He  found  that  Olopun  was  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  truth  and  uprightness,  and 
gave  him  a  special  command  to  make  it 
widely  known.  In  the  twelfth  year  of  Chink- 
wan,  and  seventh  month,  in  the  autumn  of 
the  year,  the  royal  decree  proclaimed,  "Truth 
hath  not  an  unchanging  name,  nor  are  holy 
men  confined  to  one  unchanging  form.  In 
every  place  true  doctrine  has  been  given,  and 
with  reiterated  instructions,  the  crowd  of  the 
living  have  been  blessed.  From  the  distant 
region  of  Ta  Tsin,  the  greatly  virtuous  Olo- 
pun has  brought  the  Scriptures  and  the  pic- 
tures to  offer  them  to  our  high  court.  If  the 
intent  of  this  doctrine  be  examined,  it  is  pro- 
found, excellent,  and  pure.  If  its  noble  origin 
be  considered,  it  produces  that  which  is  per- 
fect, and  establishes  that  which  is  important. 
Its  phraseology  is  without  superfluous  words. 
It  holds  the  truth,  but  rejects  that  which  is 
needless.  It  is  beneficial  in  all  affairs,  and 
profitable  to  the  people,  and  should  therefore 
pervade  the  empire.  Let  the  officers  therefore 
erect  a  temple  for  the  religion  of  Ta  Tsin,  in 
the  street  of  the  capital  called  Filing,  and  ap- 
point twenty-one  ministers  for  its  oversight." 
By  the  favour  of  Taitsung  and  his  succes- 
sors, Olopun  and  his  fellow-labourers  pro- 


NESTORIANS  IN  CHINA.  41 

ceeded  prosperously  in  their  work.  Under 
Kautsung,  A.  D.  678,  "  the  illustrious  religion 
spread  itself  in  every  direction,  and  temples 
rose  in  a  hundred  cities."  In  the  year  698, 
the  Budhlst  priests  commenced  a  persecution 
against  the  new  religion;  and  in  712,  the 
literati  and  the  lower  classes  combined  against 
it.  But  far  from  being  destroyed,  it  rose  again 
and  flourished  with  renewed  vigour  under  suc- 
ceeding emperors,  and  the  monument  which 
was  erected  in  781,  in  the  second  year  of 
Titsung,  seems  to  have  been  composed  and 
engraved  in  a  time  of  great  outward  pros- 
perity. The  Syriac  names  around  the  Chi- 
nese inscription,  are  those  of  the  Christian 
ministers  who  lived  in  China  during  the  pe- 
riod to  which  it  refers.  After  making  large 
allowances  for  its  inflated  oriental  style, 
enough  remains  to  show  that  it  speaks  of  no 
ordinary  conquests  of  Christianity. 

Timothy  the  Nestorian  patriarch  sent  Sub- 
chal-Jesus,  a  zealous  missionary,  in  780,  who 
laboured  with  success  for  several  years,  both 
in  Tartary  and  China.  He  returned  to  his 
own  country  for  additional  labourers,  but 
was  assaulted  on  the  way,  and  slain  by  a 
band  of  robbers.  Others  were  not  wanting 
to  supply  his  place,  one  of  whom,  Davidis, 
was  not  long  afterwards,  consecrated  metro- 
politan of  China.*  The  success  of  these 
various  labourers  was  such  as  to  excite  per- 
secutions against  them  more  than  once.  In 

*  Mosh.  Hist.  Tart.  Ecc.,  pp.  14,  15. 


42  THE  LAND  OF  SINIM. 

the  year  845,  an  edict  of  the  emperor  Wut- 
sung,  commanded  the  priests  that  belonged  to 
the  sect  that  came  from  Ta  Tsin,  amounting 
to  no  less  than  three  thousand  persons,  to  re- 
tire to  a  private  life.*  The  Arabian  voy- 
agers who  visited  China  in  the  ninth  century, 
speak  of  the  Christians  whom  they  saw,  and 
it  appears  that  in  a  persecution  in  877,  many 
of  them  lost  their  lives.t  Yet  notwithstanding 
all  opposition  they  maintained  their  ground. 
According  to  the  explicit  testimony  of  Gib- 
bon, "the  Christianity  of  China  between  the 
seventh  and  thirteenth  centuries  is  invincibly 
proved  by  the  consent  of  Chinese,  Arabian, 
Syrian,  and  Latin  evidence.";]:  Those  who 
have  read  the  travels  of  Marco  Polo,  must 
have  observed  how  often  he  speaks  of  the 
Nestorian  Christians  whom  he  saw,§  arid  his 
mode  of  referring  to  them  leads  us  to  sup- 
pose that  they  were  both  numerous  and  re- 
spected, as  well  as  long  established. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  exactly  the 
history  of  the  famous  Prester  John,  and  the 
amount  of  his  influence  in  favour  of  Christi- 
anity. His  existence  as  a  Christian  prince  in 
Central  Asia,  may  be  considered  as  tolerably 
certain,  arid  also  his  high  standing  with  the 
Tartar  rulers  of  China.  Gibbon  sneers  at 
him  as  the  prince  "  of  a  horde  of  Koraites," 
but  the  testimonies  of  Marco  Polo  and  of 

*  DuHalde,  Vol.  i.  p.  518. 

t  Mosh.  Hist.  Tart.  Ecc.,  p.  12. 

\  Gibbon  Hist.  Dec.  and  Fall,  chap.  47,  note  118. 

§  See  inter  alia,  pp.  404,  424,  501.     Marsden's  Edition. 


NESTORIANS  IN  CHINA.  43 

John  de  Monte  Corvino,  are  worthy  of  more 
respect. 

During  the  dominion  of  the  Tartars,  the 
Nestorians  as  well  as  all  other  foreigners,  had 
full  liberty  to  propagate  their  opinions  when 
and  how  they  chose,  and  down  to  the  end  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  numerous  bodies  of 
thetn  were  scattered  over  China.  Towards 
the  end  of  the  Yuen  dynasty  difficulties  arose. 
Controversies  with  the  emissaries  of  the  court 
of  Rome,  who  now  penetrated  those  remote 
regions,  and  the  progress  of  Mohammedan- 
ism, sapped  the  foundations  of  their  ancient 
churches.  When  the  Tartars  were  expelled, 
and  the  Ming  dynasty  came  into  power,  A.  D. 
1369,  all  foreigners  were  excluded  from  the 
empire,  and  we  gradually  lose  sight  of  them. 
Yet  so  late  as  the  fifteenth  century,  the  Nes- 
torian  patriarch  sent  bishops  to  China,  and 
some  obscure  traces  of  their  churches  are  found 
even  in  the  sixteenth,  but  after  that  period, 
they  totally  disappear.* 

Such  is  a  brief  and  imperfect  account  of 
Nestorianismin  China.  Fuller  accounts  might 
be  given  by  those  who  have  access  to  Asse- 
rnan,  and  other  sources  of  information,  but 
enough  has  been  presented  to  show  that  in 
ancient  times  Christianity  made  great  pro- 
gress in  these  ends  of  the  earth.  It  is  a  ques- 
tion of  deep  interest,  "  what  benefit  resulted 
to  China  from  all  this?"  Those  who  look 
on  the  Nestorians  as  heretics,  will  of  course 

*  Mosh.  Ecc.  Hist.,  Vol.  ii.,  pp.  276,  361,  419. 


44  THE  LAND  OF  SINIM. 

find  little  pleasure  in  accounts  of  their  suc- 
cesses, though  it  must  be  thought  strange 
that  many  of  the  Roman  Catholics  who  ana- 
thematized them  as  the  spreaders  of  a  pes- 
tiferous doctrine,  did  not  scruple  to  claim  for 
their  own  church  the  credit  of  their  successes 
in  China. 

For  our  own  part  we  consider  Nestorius 
to  have  been  as  free  from  error  as  the  haughty 
Cyril  who  condemned  him,  and  the  Nesto- 
rian  church  to  have  been  as, pure  as  any 
other  that  flourished  when  it  was  in  its  prime. 
We  are  willing  to  believe  that  many  of  its 
devoted  missionaries  were  men  of  as  pure  a 
faith,  and  as  holy  a  zeal  as  their  generation 
saw.  That  the  blessing  of  God  accompa- 
nied their  efforts  can  scarcely  be  doubted, 
and  in  their  success,  if  not  sooner,  the  pro- 
phecy of  Isaiah  began  to  receive  its  fulfil- 
ment, "  Behold  these  from  the  land  of  Sinim." 

It  may  excite  surprise  that  no  traces  of 
these  churches  have  been  found,  but  this  fact 
should  not  weaken  our  belief  in  their  exist- 
ence. Chinese  architecture  is  not  of  the  kind 
which  covers  the  ground  with  massive  build- 
ings, whose  very  ruins  remain  for  ages  as 
monuments  of  their  former  uses.  The  church 
which  in  one  century  may  have  been  crowded 
with  worshipers,  shall  totally  disappear  in 
the  next,  and  the  light  bamboo  wave  where 
the  equally  slender  column  had  stood.  Where 
did  Christianity  ever  flourish  in  more  vigour 
than  along  the  shores  of  Northern  Africa? 
The  annals  of  the  church  are  adorned  by  no 


NESTORIANS    IN    CHINA.  45 

name  brighter  than  that  of  Augustine,  bishop 
of  Hippo.  Yet  where  now  are  those  churches? 
What  traces  yet  remain?  If  they  have  so 
totally  disappeared,  it  cannot  be  deemed 
strange,  that  a  like  fate  attends  those  once 
founded  in  China.  Probably  like  too  many 
others,  the  Nestorian  churches  left  the  fervour 
of  their  first  love,  and  the  purity  of  their 
first  faith,  arid  sunk  beneath  the  weight  of 
infirmities  within,  and  oppressions  from  with- 
out. They  have  passed  away,  and  on  earfh 
their  memorial  does  not  remain.  But  it  is 
recorded  in  heaven,  where  the  proofs  of  their 
zeal,  and  the  good  they  have  accomplished 
shall  endure.  And  the  consideration  of  their 
history  gives  us  encouragement  for  the  fu- 
ture. If  Christianity  once  made  its  way  in 
China,  we  may  hope  that  under  more  favour- 
able auspices,  it  shall  again  revive,  and  be 
established  on  a  more  solid  foundation. 


46 


CHAPTER  III. 

ROMAN    CATHOLICS    IN    CHINA. 

THE  history  of  Roman  Catholic  missions 
will  form  an  important  chapter  in  the  history 
of  nations  and  of  religion.  Perhaps  the  time 
has  not  yet  come  for  the  preparation  of  such 
a  work,  but  all  may  derive  instruction  from 
the  careful  study  of  what  has  already  occur- 
red. A  few  sketches  are  all  that  can  be  in- 
troduced here. 

The  Roman  Catholic  missions  in  China 
have  had  three  distinct  epochs.  1.  In  the 
thirteenth  century.  2.  In  the  seventeenth. 
3.  In  the  eighteenth. 

Respecting  the  first  of  these  we  have  but 
little  information,  and  that  little  not  very  sat- 
isfactory. When  M.  Polo  resided  in  China, 
about  A.  D.  1280,  he  met  no  Christians  there, 
except  those  of  the  Nestorian  profession. 
Soon  afterwards,  the  Romish  missionaries 
began  to  arrive.  Some  of  these  had  been 
preaching  among  the  Western  Tartars,  and 
also  those  of  Central  Asia,  for  many  years, 
and  several  embassies  had  passed  between 
the  princes  of  those  tribes  and  the  pope.  It 
was  particularly  during  the  reigns  of  Hulagu 
khan,  and  Argonus,  that  they  met  with  most 
success.  In  the  words  of  Mosheim,  "  we  can 


ROMAN  CATHOLICS  IN  CHINA.  47 

scarcely  declare  how  prosperously  the  Chris- 
tian religion  flourished  in  these  days  among 
the  Tartars,  and  what  great  additions  it 
constantly  received.  The  Nestorians  built 
churches  in  innumerable  places,  and  many 
Franciscan  monks,  et  mendicabant  et  prse- 
dicabant,  both  begged  and  preached."* 

Among  the  latter  was  John  de  Monte 
Corvino.  He  was  born  in  1247,  in  Apulia, 
and  was  sent  in  1288,  by  the  pope  into  Tar- 
tary.  Two  letters  of  his  are  still  extant,  in 
which  he  gives  a  simple  and  pleasing  account 
of  his  efforts  to  preach  the  gospel.  He  first 
entered  India  in  1291,  and  after  preaching 
there  for  more  than  a  year,  and  baptizing 
about  one  hundred  persons,  proceeded  to 
China,  where  he  was  kindly  received  by  the 
emperor  Kublai  khan.  But  the  Nestorians 
threw  many  obstacles  in  his  way,  so  that  for 
five  years,  he  was  greatly  impeded  in  his 
work.  "  Eleven  years  he  was  in  his  pilgrim- 
age alone,"  and  then  he  was  joined  by  only 
one  associate.  Yet  so  indefatigable  and  suc- 
cessful were  his  labours,  that  by  the  year 
1305,  he  had  baptized  nearly  six  thousand 
persons.  He  had  also  purchased  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  children,  whom  he  baptized, 
instructed  in  Latin  and  Greek,  and  taught  to 
sing  the  services  of  the  church,  with  which 
the  emperor  was  greatly  pleased. t 

His  exertions  were  confined  principally  to 

*  Mosheim's  Hist.  Tart.  Ecc.,  p.  76,  et  passim. 

t   "  Dominus    Imperator    deiectat    rnultum    in   cantu 
*« 


48  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

the  Tartars,  whose  language  he  had  learn- 
ed, and  into  which  he  translated  the  New 
Testament,  and  the  Psalms  of  David.*  He 
ahd  also  some  intercourse  with  a  Tartar 
prince,  a  descendant  of  Prester  John,  who, 
by  his  means,  was  induced  to  join  the  Rom- 
ish church,  and  who  not  only  brought  many 
of  his  people  with  him,  but  also  called  his 
infant  son  by  the  name  of  the  zealous  mis- 
sionary. But  the  death  of  the  prince,  while 
his  son  was  in  the  cradle,  blasted  the  fruit 
Corvino  had  hoped  to  gather,  arid  his  people 
returned  to  the  Nestorian  communion. 

In  1307,  pope  Clement  V.  constituted  John 
archbishop  of  Peking,  and  sent  seven  suffra- 
gan bishops  to  labour  with  him.  These  were 
all  Franciscans,  and  seem  to  have  spread 
themselves  through  several  northern  provin- 
ces, where  they  laboured  with  diligence  and 
success.  Corvino  died  about  A.  D.  1330.  The 
little  we  know  respecting  him,  (though  some 
might  doubt  the  impartiality  of  a  man's  ac- 
count of  himself,  arid  of  his  own  labours,) 
gives  us  pleasing  impressions  of  his  character. 
It  is  affecting  to  hear  him  say,  "It  is  now 
twelve  years  since  I  have  heard  any  news 
from  the  west.  I  am  become  old  and  grey- 
headed, but  it  is  rather  through  labours  and 

*  In  this  his  course  differed  widely  from  that  of  Ro- 
man Catholic  missionaries  in  modern  days.  So  far  from 
thinking  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  a  work  to 
facilitate  their  exertions,  they  ridicule  the  Protestants  for 
the  pains  they  take  in  it,  and  declare  it  a  work  "  evidently 
contrary  to  the  principles  of  Christianity."  Annales  de  la 
Propagation  de  la  Foi,  1828,  p.  48. 


ROMAN  CATHOLICS  IN  CHINA.  49 

tribulations  than  through  age.  for  I  am  only 
fifty-eight  years  old.  I  have  learned  the 
Tartar  language  and  literature,  into  which  I 
have  translated  the  whole  New  Testament, 
and  the  Psalms  of  David,  and  have  caused 
them  to  be  transcribed  with  the  utmost  care. 
I  write  and  read,  and  preach  openly  and 
freely  the  testimony  of  the  law  of  Christ."* 

Nicholas  de  Bentra  was  constituted  arch- 
bishop in  1336.,  to  whose  assistance  the  pope 
sent  twenty-six  additional  labourers,  but  of 
their  success  we  have  no  accounts.  The 
Ming  dynasty  came  into  power  in  1369,  and 
being  hostile  to  foreigners,  prohibited  the 
missionaries  from  continuing  their  opera- 
tions. Consequently,  they  as  well  as  the 
Nestorians  lost  ground,  and  we  hear  nothing 
further  concerning  them. 

The  second  period  in  the  history  of  Roman 
Catholic  missions  in  China,  includes  a  space 
of  nearly  two  hundred  years.  After  Francis 
Xavier  had  visited  Japan,  he  returned  to 
Goa,  and  on  his  voyage  passed  near  the  coast 
of  China.  His  ardent  zeal  was  fired  with  the 
idea  of  preaching  the  gospel  there.  Already 
he  had  gone  to  many  nations,  and  crowded 
into  a  few  short  years  the  work  which  many 
ordinary  men  perform,  but  the  millions  of 
China  arose  before  his  excited  imagination, 
and  though  life  was  nearly  exhausted,  he  re- 
solved to  enter  China  and  close  it  there. 
Difficulties  opposed  his  design,  and  it  was 

*  Mosh.  Hist.  Tart.  Ecc.  note  XLIV.     The  letter  is  also 
printed  in  the  notes  to  Marsden's  edition  of  Marco  Polo. 
5 


50  THE  LAND  OF  SINIM. 

only  by  the  most  indomitable  perseverance 
that  he  at  last  reached  Sari-shan,  an  island 
about  thirty  miles  southwest  of  the  present  site 
of  Macao.  Arrived  there,  he  was  doomed  to 
renewed  disappointments.  The  avarice  and 
impiety  of  the  Portuguese  merchants  who 
feared  that  his  success  would  injure  them, 
prevented  the  accomplishment  of  his  desires, 
and  after  many  delays,  he  closed  his  eyes  in 
death,  A.  D.  1552,  at  the  age  of  forty-seven. 
His  remains  were  at  first  interred  on  the 
island  where  he  died,  but  were  shortly  after- 
wards removed  to  Goa.* 

Several  attempts  were  made  in  the  years 
1556,  1575,  and  1579,  by  the  Dominicans, 
Augustines,  and  Franciscans,  to  enter  China, 
but  they  proved  unsuccessful.!  It  was  re- 
served to  the  Jesuits  to  establish  the  mission, 
which  their  predecessor  Xavier  had  so  earn- 
estly desired  to  commence.  Valignani,  the 
superior  of  their  missions  in  the  Indies,  re- 
sided in  Macao,  and  often  as  he  walked  over 
her  rocky  hills,  he  fixed  his  eyes  on  the  dis- 
tant iron-bound  coast,  and  exclaimed,  "0 
Rock,  Rock,  when  wilt  thou  open!"J  In 
furtherance  of  his  desires,  he  selected  three 
Jesuits  of  eminence,  Paccio,  Roger,  and  Ricci, 
and  trained  them  for  their  work ;  to  the  last 

*  Chinese  Repository,  vol.  xii.  p.  258.  See  a  spirited 
sketch  of  his  life  and  character  in  the  Edinburgh  Review, 
July,  1842. 

t  See  Ljungstedt's  Macao,  p.  165.  Anecdotes  de  la 
Chine,  torn.  i.  p.  v. 

t  Du  Halde,  vol.  iv.  p.  4.    Semedo,  p.  172. 


ROMAN  CATHOLICS  IN  CHINA.  51 

named  belongs  the  honour  of  accomplishing 
the  design,  and  preparing  the  way  for  the 
crowds  that  speedily  followed. 

Matteo  Ricci  was  an  Italian  of  noble  birth 
and  great  attainments,  particularly  in  the 
mathematical  sciences.  He  reached  Macao 
in  the  year  1581,  being  then  fifty  years  old. 
By  persevering  efforts  he  obtained  permission 
to  reside  first  at  Shanking  fu,  afterwards  at 
Shauchau  fti,  in  the  province  of  Canton;  then 
at  Nanchang  fu,  and  at  Nanking,  a.nd  though 
several  times  driven  away  by  persecutions,* 
as  often  returned,  until  he  finally  succeeded 
in  gaining  access  to  the  emperor  at  Peking. 
Wanlih,the  thirteenth  sovereign  of  the  Ming 
dynasty,  was  then  reigning,  and  in  1601,  he 
graciously  received  the  presents  offered  by 
Ricci,  and  allowed  him  and  his  associate  Pan- 
toja  to  reside  at  Peking.  The  pleasing  man- 
ners and  extensive  acquirements  of  Ricci, 
joined  to  a  liberal  distribution  of  presents,! 
gained  him  the  favour  of  the  men  in  authori- 
ty, and  he  speedily  numbered  many  of  them 
among  his  converts.  Of  these  the  chief  was 
Siu,  a  native  of  the  city  of  Shanghai,  and  at 
the  time  an  officer  of  the  highest  rank,  and 

*  Semedo  reckons  up  no  less  than  fifty-four  persecutions 
endured  from  the  time  Ricci  left  Macao,  until  he  reached 
Nanking;  a  period  of  less  than  twenty  years.  See  his  ac- 
count, p.  174. 

t  Even  Du  Halde  speaks  of  "  the  large  rewards  pro- 
mised to  any  one  who  should  procure  the  re-establishment 
of  the  mission  in  China,1'  vol.  ii.,  p.  4,  and  the  opposers  of 
the  Jesuits  do  not  scruple  to  charge  them  with  using  the 
most  underhanded  means  to  gain  their  purposes. 


52  THE  LAND  OF  SINIM. 

greatest  influence.  At  his  baptism  he  took  the 
name  of  Paul,  and,  with  his  daughter  Candida, 
proved  for  many  years  the  most  efficient  sup- 
port of  the  missionaries.  They  delight  to 
speak  of  the  zeal  and  energy  of  this  lady. 
Married  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  and  a  widow 
at  thirty,  she  spent  the  remaining  forty-three 
years  of  her  life  in  efforts  to  promote  the  re- 
ligion she  had  professed.  At  her  own  ex- 
pense she  erected  thirty-nine  churches  in  dif- 
ferent provinces,  with  houses  for  the  residence 
of  the  priests,  and  printed  one  hundred  and 
thirty  books  prepared  by  the  missionaries.* 

With  such  zealous  supporters,  the  new  re- 
ligion made  great  progress,  and  many  churches 
were  founded.  The  success  of  Ricci  induced 
others  to  join  him,  some  of  whom  were  speed- 
ily appointed  to  places  of  trust  and  honour, 
while  others  scattered  themselves  over  the 
provinces.  Pantoja  was  employed  in  finding 
the  latitude  of  the  chief  cities,  and  Terentins 
undertook  to  reform  the  calendar;  many  of 
them  prepared  books  on  various  scientific 
subjects,  and  with  so  much  diligence  did  they 
labour,  that  by  the  year  1636,  they  had  pub- 
lished no  fewer  than  three  hundred  and  forty 
treatises,  partly  religious,  but  chiefly  on  nat- 
ural philosophy  and  the  mathematics.t  For 
the  better  regulation  of  the  missionaries,  Ricci 
published  a  set  of  rules  of  a  very  time-serv- 
ing nature.  They  related  chiefly  to  the  rites 
in  honour  of  ancestors,  which  he  allowed  the 

*  Du  Halde,  vol.  ii.  p,  8. 

t  Kircher,  China  Illustrata,  pp.  109,  121. 


ROMAN  CATHOLICS  IN  CHINA.  53 

converts  to  practice,  because  he  considered 
them  purely  civil  in  their  nature.  This  was 
one  of  the  great  bones  of  contention  among 
the  missionaries,  and  a  quarrel  speedily  arose 
between  the  Jesuits  and  Franciscans.  The 
latter  accused  the  former  of  designs  to  usurp 
the  supreme  power,  and  alarmed  the  Chinese 
authorities  in  Canton  to  such  a  degree,  that 
they  seized  the  Jesuit  Martinez,  and  punished 
him  so  severely,  that  he  expired  under  the 
bastinado. 

Ricci  died  in  1610,  aet.  80,  and  was  buried 
with  much  pomp  and  solemnity.  By  the 
Jesuits  he  was  extolled  as  a  man  possessed 
of  every  virtue;  by  the  missionaries  of  other 
orders,  he  was  spoken  of  in  terms  of  the  bit- 
terest censure  and  condemnation.*  No  man 

*  The  following1  character  of  Ricci  is  given  by  a  Roman 
Catholic  writer.  "This  Jesuit  was  active,  skilful,  full  of 
schemes  and  endowed  with  all  the  talents  necessary  to 
render  him  agreeable  to  the  great,  or  to  gain  the  favour  of 
princes ;  but  at  the  same  time  so  little  versed  in  matters  of 
faith,  that  as  the  bishop  of  Conon  said,  it  was  sufficient  to 
read  his  work  On  the  True  Religion,  to  be  satisfied  that 
he  was  ignorant  of  the  first  principles  of  theology.  Being 
more  a  politician  than  a  theologian,  he  found  the  secret  of 
remaining  peacefully  in  China.  The  kings  found  in  him 
a  man  full  of  complaisance ;  the  pagans  a  minister  who 
accommodated  himself  to  their  superstitions;  the  manda- 
rins a  politic  courtier  skilled  in  all  the  trickery  of  courts ; 
and  the  devil  a  faithful  servant,  who  far  from  destroying, 
established  his  reign  among  the  heathen,  and  even  extended 
it  to  the  Christians.  He  preached  in  China  the  religion  of 
Christ  according  to  his  own  fancy;  that  is  to  say,  he  dis- 
figured it  by  a  faithful  mixture  of  pagan  superstitions, 
adopting  the  sacrifices  offered  to  Confucius  and  ancestors, 
and  teaching  the  Christians  to  assist  and  to  coo'perate  at  the 
worship  of  idols,  provided  they  only  addressed  their  devo- 


54  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

of  sufficient  talent  and  established  character 
was  left  among  the  missionaries  to  take  his 
place,  but  they  found  protection  in  Paul  Siu, 
who  exerted  his  great  influence  in  their  fa- 
vour. A  persecution  raged  against  them  from 
16 17  to  1621,  when  by  an  imperial  edict  they 
were  charged  with  "  bringing  confusion  among 
the  people,"  and  were  commanded  to  leave  the 
empire.  But  the  care  of  Siu  obtained  a  re- 
versal of  the  edict,  and  in  1622  an  additional 
body  of  missionaries  joined  them. 

John  Adam  Schaal,  a  German  Jesuit,  ar- 
rived in  1628,  and  being  strongly  recom- 
mended by  Siu  to  the  emperor,  was  speedily 
received  into  favour.  His  great  talents  and 
learning  placed  him*  at  the  head  of  all  his 
brethren,  and  caused  him  to  be  ranked  among 
the  most  considerable  men  in  the  empire. 

In  1631,  the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans 
entered  China.  According  to  some  accounts 
they  were  heartily  welcomed  by  their  prede- 
cessors the  Jesuits,  though  other  writers  assert 
the  contrary.*  A  great  loss  was  experienced 

tions  to  a  cross  covered  with  flowers,  or  secretly  attached 
to  one  of  the  candles  which  were  lighted  in  the  temples 
of  the  false  gods."  Anecdotes  de  la  Chine,  torn,  i.,  pref. 
pp.  vi.  vii. 

*  We  learn  from  the  "  Anecdotes,"  that  repeated  efforts 
were  made  by  the  Dominicans  to  enter  China,  all  of  which 
were  frustrated  by  the  Jesuits,  who  wished  to  occupy  the 
field  by  themselves ;  and  the  person  who  succeeded  in  en- 
tering in  1631,  did  so  in  a  manner  "almost  miraculous," 
for  the  Jesuits  had  so  carefully  guarded  the  usual  entrance 
by  Canton,  that  he  was  obliged  to  go  to  Formosa,  and  en. 
ter  by  the  province  of  Fukien.  Anecdotes  de  la  China,  p. 
viii,  It  is  evident  enough  from  the  account  of  the  Jesuits 


ROMAN    CATHOLICS    IN    CHINA.  55 

the  following  year  in  the  death  of  Siu,  yet 
religion  continued  to  advance.  But  the  coun- 
try was  now  harassed  by  the  attacks  of  the 
Tartars,  who  finally  conquered  it,  arid  pos- 
sessed the  throne  in  1644.  During  these 
troublous  times,  when  one  dynasty  was  pass- 
ing away,  and  another  was  coming  in  its 
stead,  the  missionaries  were  dispersed,  and 
their  churches  suffered  in  consequence. 

In  Shunchi,  the  first  emperor  of  the  present 
dynasty,  the  missionaries  found  a  friend.  He 
appointed  Schaalto  reform  the  calendar,  into 
which  many  errors  had  crept,  and  this  work 
was  so  ably  performed  that  he  made  him 
president  of  the  astronomical  tribunal,  with 
the  title  and  authority  of  an  officer  of  the  first 
rank;  the  ornament  he  bore  on  his  breast 
was  a  crane.  By  his  influence  he  obtained 
permission  for  the  entrance  of  fourteen  other 
missionaries,  among  whom  was  Ferdinand 
Verbiest,  afterwards  so  famous.  These  dis- 
persed themselves  over  the  provinces,  but  it 
would  seem  that  the  greatest  success  attended 
their  efforts  in  Shensl.  It  was  here  that  P. 
Faber  was  stationed  for  many  years,  and  the 
most  glowing  accounts  of  his  success  and 
miracles  are  given  by  P.  Le  Comte,  who 
afterwards  occupied  the  same  province.  Ac- 
cording to  the  latter  the  town  of  Hang  ching, 
"  was  overrun  with  a  prodigious  multitude  of 
locusts,  which  ate  up  all  the  leaves  of  the 
trees,  and  gnawed  the  grass  to  the  very  roots." 

that  they  did  not  wish  any  others  to  cultivate  the  earn* 
field  with  themselves.  See  Semedo  p.  246. 


56  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

The  inhabitants  after  exhausting  all  the  re- 
sources of  their  own  superstitions  and  charms, 
applied  to  the  father,  who  promised  to  deliver 
them  from  the  plague,  provided  they  would 
become  Christians.  When  they  consented, 
"he  marched  in  ceremony  into  the  highways 
in  his  stole  and  surplice,  and  sprinkled  up  and 
down  the  holy  water,  accompanying  this  ac- 
tion with  the  prayers  of  the  church  but  espe- 
cially with  a  lively  faith.  God  heard  the 
voice  of  his  servant,  and  the  next  day  all  the 
insects  disappeared/'  But  the  people  refused 
to  perform  their  promise,  and  "  the  plague 
grew  worse  than  before. "  With  much  con- 
trition they  came  to  the  father,  confessing 
their  fault,  and  intreating  his  renewed  inter- 
position; again  he  sprinkled  the  holy  water, 
and  the  insects  a  second  time  disappeared. 
Then  the  whole  borough  was  converted,  and 
many  years  afterward  "it  was  reckoned  one 
of  the  devoutest  missions  in  China."*  Faber 
"was  carried  over  rivers  through  the  air." 
He  "foretold  his  own  death,  and  did  several 
other  such  wonders;  but  the  greatest  miracle 
of  all  was  his  life  which  he  spent  in  the  con- 
tinual exercise  of  all  the  apostolical  virtues, 
and  a  tender  devotion  to  tfre  mother  of  God."t 
It  is  much  to  be  regretted,  that  in  all  this 
eulogy  on  Faber,  by  his  devout  admirer  and 
successor  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Alpha 
and  Omega  of  the  Christian  religion,  is  not 
once  mentioned. 

*  Le  Comte's  Memoirs,  p,  357.        f  Ibid. 


ROMAN  CATHOLICS  IN  CHINA.  57 

While  the  Papal  religion  was  thus  spread- 
ing in  the  provinces,  it  seemed  to  be  laying 
its  foundations  yet  more  solidly  in  the  capital. 
The  emperor  laid  aside  his  usual  state  when 
conversing  with  Schaal,  and  in  the  course  of 
two  years  paid  him  no  less  than  twenty  visits 
at  his  own  residence.  One  of  his  birthdays, 
when  he  should  have  received  the  homage  of 
his  officers  on  his  throne,  was  spent  under  the 
roof  of  the  missionary.  He  usually  called 
him  Mafia,  a  term  of  affection  and  respect, 
and  to  show  the  world  how  much  he  esteemed 
him,  he  placed  a  marble  tablet  at  the  door  of 
his  church  in  1650,  in  which  he  bestowed  on 
him  the  highest  commendations.* 

While  Shaal  favoured  the  Tartar  invaders 
in  the  north,  some  of  his  colleagues  were 
equally  attentive  to  the  opposing  claimants 
of  the  throne  in  the  south.  The  Tartars 
speedily  overran  the  northern  provinces,  but 
their  progress  was  arrested  for  some  time  in 
the  south  by  two  Christian  Chinese  officers, 
who  proclaimed  as  emperor  a  relative  of  the 
late  imperial  family,  and  raised  an  army  in 
his  defence.  The  mother  of  this  prince,  with 
his  wife  and  eldest  son,  having  professed  the 
Christian  faith,  were  baptized  by  Coffler, 
under  the  respective  names  of  Helena,  Maria, 
and  Constantine.  It  was  hoped  that  he  would 
prove  a  second  Constantine  in  truth,  and  esta- 
blish the  Christian  Church  in  China.  Helena 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  pope,  which  was  gra- 

*  Kircher  China  Illustrata,  p.  105. 
6 


58  THE    LAND    OP    SINIM. 

ciously  answered  by  Alexander  VII.;  but  the 
hopes  that  depended  on  her  grandson  were 
frustrated  by  three  armies  of  Tartars,  which 
obliged  his  adherents  to  disperse,  and  took 
possession  of  the  whole  empire.  We  hear 
nothing  farther  of  the  young  Constantine.* 

The  state  of  favour  in  the  northern  capital 
could  not  last  forever.  The  emperor  died, 
and  Kanghi,  a  minor  only  eight  years  old, 
came  to  the  throne  in  1662.  Schaal  was  at 
first  appointed  tutor  to  the  young  monarch, 
but  the  four  regents  who  possessed  the  au- 
thority speedily  threw  him  and  others  into 
prison,  loaded  them  with  chains,  and  treated 
them  with  scorn  and  cruelty.  They  even 
condemned  Schaal  "  to  be  cut  into  ten  thou- 
sand pieces,"  but  for  some  unknown  cause, 
deferred  putting  their  decree  into  execution, 
until  age  and  infirmity  and  suffering  removed 
him.  He  died  A.  D.  1669,  in  the  seventy- 
eighth  year  of  his  age.  Another  missionary 
also  died  in  prison,  and  three  Dominicans, 
one  Franciscan,  and  twenty-one  Jesuits  were 
banished  to  Canton. 

Their  prospects  were  now  dark  indeed. 
After  experiencing  the  abounding  favour  of 
the  deceased  emperor,  they  were  treated  with 
the  scorn  due  to  slaves  and  the  punishment 
of  criminals,  and  might  well  expect  the  mind 
of  the  youthful  emperor  to  be  filled  with 
the  constant  slanders  of  his  advisers.  Four 
Jesuits  still  remained  at  Peking,  but  what 

*  Du  Halde,  vol.  L    Kircher. 


ROMAN  CATHOLICS  IN  CHINA.  59 

could  they  accomplish  when  their  enemies 
were  powerful  at  court,  and  their  partisans 
weakened  in  the  provinces?  It  was  the 
darkest  period  in  their  history,  but  it  pre- 
ceded that  of  their  greatest  glory,  and  a  few 
years  saw  them  triumphant  over  all  their 
enemies,  and  going  freely  throughout  the 
empire.  Such  reverses  mark  the  course  of 
human  affairs. 

In  1669,  Kanghi  dismissed  the  regents  and 
took  the  supreme  control.  The  calendars  for 
the  year  had  already  been  prepared,  and 
according  to  custom  distributed  with  much 
ceremony  to  the  princes  of  the  imperial 
family,  and  sent  into  the  provinces.  There 
they  had  been  printed  and  circulated  among 
the  people.  Kanghi  having  sent  for  Verbiest 
and  his  colleagues,  proposed  sundry  questions 
on  astronomy  which  were  answered  cor- 
rectly, while  the  Chinese  astronomers  were 
obliged  to  plead  ignorance.  Satisfied  of  the 
abilities  of  Verbiest,  the  emperor  commanded 
him  to  examine  the  calendar  for  the  year 
already  in  circulation.  He  soon  pointed  out 
so  many  errors,  particularly  in  the  improper 
insertion  of  an  intercalary  month,  that  the 
authors  who  had  been  the  bitterest  enemies 
of  the  missionaries,  were  filled  with  confusion. 
They  were  forthwith  loaded  with  chains, 
while  the  Jesuits  were  set  at  liberty,  and 
Verbiest  was  appointed  president  of  the  As- 
tronomical Tribunal.  As  soon  as  he  saw 
himself  in  that  situation,  he  commenced  a 
series  of  actions,  whose  only  effect  could  be 


60  THE    LAND    OP    SINIM. 

to  draw  on  himself  the  bitter  hatred  of  the 
Chinese  officers.  His  first  step  was  to  throw 
out  the  intercalary  month,  thus  rendering  the 
calendar  already  in  circulation  utterly  useless, 
and  covering  with  disgrace,  those  who  com- 
posed and  sent  it  forth.  The  members  of  the 
Council  felt  this  deeply,  and  sent  their  presi- 
dent to  beg  him  in  some  way  to  spare  their 
reputation.  The  laconic  answer  was,  "  It  is 
not  in  my  power  to  make  the  heavens  agree 
with  your  calendar.  The  useless  month 
must  be  taken  out."  And  taken  out  it  was, 
to  the  great  astonishment  of  the  simple  hearted 
celestials,  who  could  not  conceive  what  was 
become  of  it,  and  innocently  asked  in  what 
place  it  was  kept  in  reserve?*  Du  Halde 
relates  this  event  with  great  exultation,  as  a 
proof  of  the  superior  learning  and  influence 
of  Verbiest,  but  it  may  well  be  doubted  whe- 
ther he  acted  with  the  usual  prudence  of  his 
order,  in  exasperating  the  feeling  of  those  in 
high  places.  All  purposes  could  have  been 
served  by  retaining  the  calendar  already  in 
use,  and  publishing  a  correct  one  for  the  next 
year,  but  the  opportunity  of  humbling  his 
persecutors  seems  to  have  overcome  his  habi- 
tual caution.  After  this  beginning,  all  things 
prospered  for  a  season.  In  1678,  Verbiest 
prepared  an  astronomical  work  entitled, 
"  The  Perpetual  Astronomy  of  the  emperor 
Kanghi,"  which  he  presented  to  his  royal 
master.  The  emperor  received  it  with  such 
favour,  that  in  a  full  assembly  of  his  coun- 

*  Du  Halde,  vol.  ii.  p.  133. 


ROMAN  CATHOLICS  IN  CHINA.  61 

sellors,  he  made  the  father  an  officer  of  the 
first  rank,  and  gave  him  the  title  of  tdjin,  at 
the  same  time  ennobling  all  his  kindred.  He 
had  no  relatives  in  China,  but  as  the  Jesuits 
called  each  other  brothers  "  they  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  use  the  same  title.  The  greatest  part 
of  the  religious  caused  it  to  be  inscribed  on 
the  doors  of  their  houses."* 

The  emperor  having  thus  received  them 
into  favour,  spared  no  efforts  to  please  them. 
They  were  advanced  to  the  highest  offices, 
he  even  requested  them  to  send  to  Europe 
for  additional  associates,  and  when  in  1689, 
he  visited  the  provinces  of  Shantung  and 
Kiangnan,  he  showed  more  favour  to  the 
Jesuit  missionaries  in  Tsinan,  Hangchau,  and 
Nanking,  than  to  his  own  officers.  "  He 
called  them  into  the  cabin  of  his  boat,  and 
conversed  familiarly  with  them,  when  his 
own  officers  were  not  allowed  even  to  ap- 
proach the  imperial  bark."t  They  on  their 
part,  rendered  him  many  signal  services.  In 
1636,  Schaal  had  cast  a  number  of  cannons 
for  Yungching,  and  Verbiest  performed  the 
same  service  more  than  once  for  Kanghi. 
At  one  time  he  cast  one  hundred  and  thirty 
pieces  of  cannon  "  with  wonderful  success," 
and  in  1681,  he  cast  three  hundred  and 
twenty  pieces  more,  "  which  he  blessed  in  a 
solemn  manner  and  gave  the  name  of  a  saint 
to  every  piece  of  cannon."J  Nor  should  we 

*  Du  Halde,  vol.  i.  p.  271.  t  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  352. 

t  Du  Halde,  vol.  ii.  p.  82,  in  the  8vo.  edition.     The 
other  references  to  this  author,  are  to  the  folio  edition. 


62  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

omit  to  mention  the  treaty  made  with  Russia, 
in  1689,  the  principal  merit  of  which  seems 
due  to  Gerbillon. 

It  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  any  body 
of  missionaries  could  be  more  favourably 
situated  than  the  Jesuits  were,  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Louis  XIV. 
sat  upon  the  throne  of  France,  and  both  him- 
self and  his  able  ministers,  Colbert  and  Lou- 
vois,  were  zealous  to  extend  the  dominion  of 
the  pope  to  China.  They  selected  and  sent 
men  of  the  first  talents  and  most  varied  ac- 
quirements, and  spared  no  expense  in  pro- 
viding all  they  needed,  and  they  on  their 
arrival  were  received  with  distinguished  fa- 
vour by  the  best  monarch  that  ever  sat  upon 
the  Chinese  throne.*  When  Verbiest  died 
in  1688,  the  emperor  commanded  the  highest 
honours  to  be  paid  to  his  remains,  and  ap- 
pointed Grirnaldi,  with  equal  power,  as  his 
successor. 

Under  such  auspices,  it  is  not  wonderful 
that  they  'prospered.  In  many  of  the  pro- 
vinces they  had  their  missions,  and  Le  Comte 
describes  in  glowing  terms  the  piety  of  the 
Christians  in  Shensi  and  Kiangnan,  and  the 
"wonderful  works "  that  were  occasionally 
seen.  Several  missionaries  baptized  one 
thousand  or  fifteen  hundred  persons  annually, 
and  the  favour  of  the  emperor  knew  no 
bounds.  The  governor  of  H&ngchau  threw 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  missionaries,  and 

*  Le  Comte's  Memoirs,  pp.  2,  3. 


ROMAN  CATHOLICS  IN  CHINA.  63 

commenced  a  persecution  against  P.  Intor- 
cetta.  As  a  last  resort  they  appealed  to  the 
emperor,  and  after  some  delay,  he  issued  his 
celebrated  edict  of  1692,  declaring  that  the 
Christian  religion  contained  nothing  hurtful, 
but  was  good  and  useful,  and  on  no  account 
should  be  opposed  or  hindered.  Every  ob- 
stacle was  thus  removed,  and  in  1700,  having 
been  cured  by  the  missionaries  of  a  disease 
that  threatened  his  life,  he  went  so  far  as  to 
erect  a  church  for  them  within  the  precincts 
of  the  palace,  appointing  one  of  his  own  offi- 
cers to  superintend  its  erection,  and  defraying 
the  expenses  from  the  royal  treasury.  These 
were  the  palmy  days  of  Roman  Catholicism 
in  China,  and  it  need  not  surprise  us  to  learn 
that  in  1703,  they  numbered  one  hundred 
churches,  and  one  hundred  thousand  con- 
verts in  the  province  of  Nanking  alone.* 

It  was  about  this  time  that  the  geographi- 
cal survey  of  the  empire  was  made,  with 
which  the  emperor  was  greatly  delighted. 
The  account  of  it  forms  a  very  substantial 
benefit  conferred  by  the  Jesuits,  not  only  on 
China,  but  on  the  rest  of  the  world.  This 
work  was  commenced  in  1708,  and  finished 
in  1718,  by  the  following  persons:  The 
Great  Wall,  by  Bouvet,  Regis  and  Jartoux; 
Eastern  Tartary,  Liautung  and  Chihli,  by 
Regis,  Jartoux  and  Fridelli;  Shantung,  by 
Regis  and  Cordoso;  Shansi  and  Shensi,  by 

*  The  Modern  Kiangsi,  Kiangsti,  and  Nganhwui,  com- 
monly called  "  the  Two  Kiang."  See  Annales  de  la  Pro- 
pagation de  la  Foi.,  vol.  x.  p.  89. 


64  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

De  Tartre  and  Cordoso;  Honan,  Kiangn&n, 
Chehkiang  and  Fukien,  by  De  Mailla,  Hen- 
derer  and  Regis;  Kiangsi,  Kwangtung  and 
Kwangsi,  by  De  Tartare  and  Cordoso; 
Sz'chuen  and  Yunnan,  by  Fridelli,  Bonjour 
and  Regis.* 

But  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  all  these 
successes  were  peacefully  obtained  or  quiet- 
ly enjoyed.  They  had  enemies,  numerous, 
powerful  and  bitter  among  the  heathen,  but 
their  deadliest  foes  were  they  of  their  own 
household.  It  has  long  been  the  boast  of 
Roman  Catholic  writers,  that  their  church  is 
one  and  undivided,  and  they  freely  taunt  the 
Protestants  with  their  varied  sects,  and  bitter 
controversies.  A  more  unfounded  boast,  or 
senseless  taunt,  it  would  be  difficult  to  con- 
ceive. The  annals  of  all  the  Protestant 
churches,  furnish  no  controversies  so  fierce, 
and  no  denunciations  so  bitter  as  those  of  the 
Jesuits  and  Jansenists  in  Europe;  and  of  the 
Jesuits  and  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  in 
China,  in  the  time  of  their  prosperity.!  It 
was  these  controversies,  more  than  anything 
else,  that  led  to  their  overthrow  in  China,  and 
the  same  cause,  has  since  that  time  stirred  up 
other  persecutions  against  them. 

The  first  successful  missionaries,  in  the 
period  of  which  we  are  treating,  were  the 
Jesuits.  The  prudence  of  Ricci,  led  him,  in 
1603,  to  draw  up  rules  to  conduct  their  mis- 

*  See  Du  Halde. 

t  For  proof  of  this  see  the  note  on  page  53,  which  is  orfy 
one  specimen  out  of  many. 


ROMAN  CATHOLICS  IN  CHINA.  65 

sions  without  offending  the  Chinese.  He  and 
his  successors  chose  to  esteem  the  honours 
paid  to  Confucius,  and  to  deceased  ancestors, 
as  civil  ceremonies;  and  finding  no  word  in 
the  language  to  express  the  name  of  God, 
they  adopted  T'ien,  a  word  which  to  the 
Chinese  conveyed  scarce  any  idea  save  that 
of  the  visible  heavens,  or  else  such  as  were 
connected  with  their  own  superstitious  wor- 
ship. For  a  while  they  had  the  field  to 
themselves,  and  their  contests  were  with  the 
heathen  around.  These,  pleased  with  their 
concessions  on  points  of  national  superstition, 
and  attracted  by  the  splendour  of  their  cere- 
monial worship,  (which  they  did  not  fail  to 
render  as  gorgeous  and  imposing  as  possible,) 
lent  a  willing  ear  to  their  doctrines.  But  in 
1631,  they  were  joined  by  missionaries  of  the 
order  of  St.  Dominic,*  and  ere  many  months 
the  flames  of  discord  were  kindled.  A  mis- 
sionary who  arrived  in  1633,  soon  published 
his  objections  to  the  rules  of  Ricci.t 

The  jealo'usy  of  the  rival  orders  of  Loyola, 
St.  Francis  and  Dominic,  wanted  but  a  slight 
pretext;  and  the  strife  then  kindled,  ended 
only  with  the  prosperity  of  the  Roman  Ca- 
tholic missions  in  China.  The  Jesuits  were 
charged  by  the  other  orders  with  the  most 
culpable  conduct,  and  time-serving  policy; 
with  teaching  the  Chinese  that  there  was  but 
little  difference  between  Christianity  and  their 
own  belief;  with  allowing  their  converts  to 

*  See  note  on  p.  54.          t  Macao  and  China,  p.  189. 


66  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

retain  their  old  superstitions;  with  luxury 
and  ambition;  and  with  neglecting  the  duties 
of  the  ministry,  that  they  might  meddle  in 
the  affairs  of  state.  These  charges  were 
made,  not  by  Protestants,  but  by  Roman 
Catholic  writers,  and  though  they  were  re- 
plied to  with  much  asperity,  their  truth  was 
admitted  by  some  even  of  the  Jesuits  them- 
selves.* 

The  contest  after  being  bitterly  waged  in 
China  was  carried  to  Rome,  and  decided  by 
different  popes  in  different  and  contradic- 
tory modes.  The  Jesuits  maintained  that 
T*ien  was  a  proper  word  to  express  the 
Christian  idea  of  God,  and  that  the  rites  in 
honour  of  the  ancient  sages,  and  deceased 
ancestors,  being  purely  civil,  might  be  law- 
fully performed  by  Christian  converts.  In- 
nocent XL,  in  1645,  decided  in  favour  of  the 
Dominicans  and  condemned  the  Jesuits.  In 
1656,  Alexander  VII.,  nullified  their  decision 
in  effect,  though  not  in  express  terms.  Each 
party  claimed  his  decision,  and  the  question 
was  often  agitated  afterwards.  In  1703, 
pope  Clement  XI.  decided  it  in  a  manner  ad- 
verse to  the  Jesuits,  but  this  same  pontiff,  in 
1715,  mitigated  the  severity  of  his  decree  by 
allowing  the  word  T'ien  to  be  used,  with  the 
character  chu  after  it,  (t'ien  chu,  which  has 
ever  since  been  used  by  the  Roman  Catholics 
in  China,  as  the  name  of  God,)  and  permitting 
the  converts  to  practice  their  ancient  rites, 

*  Mosheim  Ecc.  Hist.,  vol.  iii.  p,  25. 


ROMAN   CATHOLICS   IN   CHINA.  67 

provided  they  did  so  as  marks  of  civil  honour 
merely.* 

The  edict  of  1703  was  carried  to  China  by 
Charles  Thomas  Maillard  de  Tournon.  He 
was  appointed  by  the  pope  as  legate  a  latere 
to  China,  and  to  give  him  a  title  of  sufficient 
dignity  was  consecrated  Patriarch  of  Antioch. 
As  he  was  known  to  be  a  great  admirer  of 
the  Jesuits,  his  appointment  was, very  ac- 
ceptable to  them,  while  it  filled  their  oppo- 
nents with  equal  dismay.  He  sailed  from 
Europe,  in  April,  1703.  Voyages  were  not 
made  in  those  days  with  the  speed  that  is 
now  so  common,  and  he  was  six  months  in 
sailing  from  the  Canaries  to  Pondicherry.  On 
the  voyage  a  dreadful  storm  arose,  and  they  all 
prepared  for  the  fate  that  seemed  inevitable. 
But,  says  a  credulous  writer,  "  after  a  short 
and  fervent  prayer,  the  patriarch  made  the 
sign  of  the  cross  upon  the  sea,  which  immedi- 
ately obeyed  the  servant  of  God.  The  wind 
straightway  fell,  the  waves  became  calm,  and 
a  sudden  tranquillity  folio  wing  the  violent  agi- 
tation, showed  how  dear  he  was  to  God."  At 
Pondicherry,  he  lodged  with  the  Jesuits,  and 
it  was  here,  where  he  spent  several  months, 
that  the  estrangement  between  them  com- 
menced, which  led  to  the  failure  of  his  mis- 
sion. The  veneration  of  the  Hindus  for  the 
cow,  and  the  multiplied  uses  which  they 
make  even  of  her  dung  in  their  superstition 
is  well  known.  It  appears  that  the  Jesuits 

*  Mosheim  ubi  supra,  and  see  a  sketch  of  this  contest 
in  the  preface  to  the  u  Anecdotes  sur  1'etat  de  la  Chine." 


68  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

in  India  allowed  their  converts  to  continue  in 
all  their  old  superstitions,  only  taking  the 
precaution  to  bless  the  dung  beforehand! 
The  legate  greatly  scandalized  at  this  prac- 
tice, issued  a  solemn  edict  utterly  forbidding 
it,  which  so  offended  the  Jesuits  that  they 
never  forgave  him.*  Leaving  Pondicherry 
in  June,  1704,  he  reached  Manila  in  Septem- 
ber. Here  he  deposed  the  procureur  of  the 
society  of  the  Jesuits,  who,  not  withstanding  his 
vow  of  poverty  had  enriched  himself  by  traffic, 
arid  confiscated  his  treasures.!  These  two  acts 
of  the  legate  showed  them  the  spirit  of  the 
man,  and  as  they  struck  a  deadly  blow  at 
their  temporizing  course,  and  avaricious  po- 
licy, they  determined  to  thwart,  at  every 
step,  one  who  promished  to  become  so  dan- 
gerous a  foe. 

Tournon  arrived  at  Macao,  April,  1705, 
and  was  received  with  great  show  of  honour 
by  the  senate,  and  the  bishop.  He  took  up 
his  lodgings  in  the  mansion  of  the  Jesuits  or 
Green  Island.  He  reached  Peking  in  De- 
cember of  the  same  year,  but  found  innumer- 
able difficulties  in  gaining  access  to  the  em- 
peror. The  Jesuits  are  charged  with  preju- 
dicing the  mind  of  the  emperor  against  him, 
and  with  removing  all  those  who  favoured 
him,  so  as  to  leave  him  almost  alone,  among 
enemies  and  spies.  Finally  he  demanded  a 

*  These  statements  and  those  which  follow,  are  taken 
from  the  Appendix  to  Tournon's  own  account  of  his  mis- 
sion. See  the  Anecdotes  sur  1'etat  de  la  Chine,  App.  p.  5-7. 

t  Ibid.,  p.  10. 


ROMAN  CATHOLICS  IN  CHINA.  69 

private  audience  with  the  emperor,  which 
was  granted,  but  when  he  reached  the  ante- 
chamber he  was  seized  with  a  sudden  and 
most  violent  illness.  The  emperor  who  was 
just  on  the  point  of  receiving  him,  hearing  of 
it,  exclaimed  "he  is  poisoned!"  And  sent 
his  own  physician  to  attend  on  him.  By 
great  care  he  slowly  recovered,  but  Perrira 
and  other  Jesuits  succeeded  in  gaining  the 
emperor's  attention,  and  he  never  after  was 
admitted  to  an  audience.  He  left  Peking  in 
August,  1 706,  and  was  soon  after  banished  by 
order  of  the  emperor,  and  imprisoned  in  Macao 
till  the  return  of  the  Jesuit  envoys  from  Rome. 
He  remained  in  prison  in  Macao,  till  his 
death,  and  the  spectacles  that  were  during 
that  time  exhibited,  the  intrigues,  the  decep- 
tion, the  anathemas,  and  excommunications 
that  followed  in  close  succession,  were  truly 
disgraceful.  The  bishop  of  Macao,  who  was 
completely  under  the  control  of  the  Jesuits, 
even  went  so  far  as  to  issue  sentence  of  ex- 
communication against  the  patriarch,  which 
was  retorted  by  the  latter  in  a  counter  sen- 
tence that  remained  until  it  was  removed  by 
Mezzabarba.  The  legate  died  in  prison  in 
1710,  having  shortly  before  received  notice  of 
his  promotion  to  the  cardinalate.* 

The  decree  of  1703  was  carried  to  China 
by  Tournon,  and  that  of  1715,  by  Mezza- 
barba, but  neither  of  them  satisfied  the  Jesuits, 
and  both  of  them  offended  the  emperor. 

*  See  Appendix  to  the  "  Anecdotes  "  passim. 


70  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

Great  as  was  the  favour  he  had  shown  to 
the  missionaries,  he  was  too  independent  a 
prince  to  suffer  them  to  rule  in  his  dominions, 
and  his  action  showed  that  his  eyes  were  at 
length  opened  to  see  their  true  character. 
He  imprisoned  Tournon  who  brought  the 
first  edict,  and  though  he  received  Mezza- 
barba  courteously,  he  granted  none  of  his 
requests.  It  was  about  this  time  that  the 
survey  of  his  empire  was  laboriously  per- 
formed by  several  Jesuits  in  his  employ,  with 
which  he  was  greatly  delighted.  Yet  in  the 
very  year  in  which  that  survey  was  finished, 
he  issued  an  edict  forbidding  any  missionary 
to  remain  without  a  patent  from  himself, 
which  patent  was  given  only  after  a  strict 
examination,  and  a  promise  to  adhere  to  the 
rules  of  Ricci.  He  also  suffered  a  severe  per- 
secution to  rage  in  the  provinces  of  Sz'chuen, 
Kweichau,  and  Yunnan  in  1707,  in  which 
several  missionaries  (among  others  Visdelou 
who  had  spent  several  years  at  Peking)  were 
"  driven  out  of  China  by  order  of  the  empe- 
ror, and  others  were  kept  in  irons  until  their 
death."*  These  were  unexpected  and  fatal 
blows  to  the  power  and  prosperity  of  the 
Jesuits,t  and  of  all  other  religious  orders. 
They  remonstrated,  but  in  vain,  for  the  em- 

*  Yet  as  an  evidence  of  the  violence  of  the  controversies 
then  prevailing,  it  may  be  stated,  that  the  Jesuits  were 
charged  by  their  opponents  with  having  procured  both 
this  order  of  the  emperor's,  and  the  persecution  of  their 
brethren,  in  order  that  they  might  have  the  field  entirely 
to  themselves.  Anecdotes  de  la  Chine,  p.  78. 

t  Nouvelles  Lettres  Edifiantes,  torn,  i.,  Int.  p.  iii. 


ROMAN  CATHOLICS  IN  CHINA.  71 

peror's  course  was  taken.  They  had  reached 
the  summit  of  their  glory,  and  there  is  but 
too  much  evidence  that  they  were  intoxicated 
with  success.  By  slow  and  painful  steps  they 
had  ascended.  Swiftly  and  fatally  they  fell. 
Kanghi  died  December  20, 1723,  and  when 
Yungching  ascended  the  throne,  it  soon  be- 
came evident  that  the  chief  friend  of  the 
Jesuits  was  gone.  In  the  first  year  of  his 
reign  remonstrances  were  presented  by  the 
literati,  complaining  that  the  late  emperor 
had  shown  too  much  favour  to  the  foreign 
teachers,  and  that  they  were  a  dangerous 
class,  because  their  converts  acknowledged 
no  other  authority,  and  in  times  of  trouble 
were  governed  by  them  alone.  The  go- 
vernor of  Fukien  also  presented  a  petition 
praying  for  their  banishment,  and  the  conver- 
sion of  their  churches  to  other  uses.  These 
petitions  and  remonstrances  were  referred  to 
the  Board  of  Rites,  and  by  their  advice,  a 
decree  was  issued  in  1724,  retaining  those 
already  in  Peking  for  the  service  of  the  em- 
peror, but  sending  all  the  rest  to  Macao,  and 
strictly  forbidding  every  effort  to  propagate 
their  religion.  Petitions  and  remonstrances 
were  all  in  vain.  More  than  three  hundred 
churches  were  destroyed,  and  more  than 
three  hundred  thousand  converts  left  without 
pastors.*  Persecutions  followed,  and  the 
members  of  a  noble  and  distinguished  family 
who  had  embraced  Christianity,  were  loaded 

*  Lljungstedt's  Macao  and  China,  p.  177. 


72  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

with  chains,and  treated  with  so  much  severity 
that  three  of  them  died  in  prison.  The  re- 
mainder were  dispersed  through  the  provinces 
under  sentence  of  perpetual  banishment. 

The  missionaries  driven  from  the  pro- 
vinces were  conducted  to  Canton,  and  al- 
lowed to  remain  there,  on  condition  that  they 
gave  no  cause  of  complaint.  As  might  have 
been  expected,  they  spared  no  efforts  to  re- 
visit and  encourage  their  scattered  flocks,  and 
being  suspected  they  were  in  1732,  banished 
from  Canton  to  Macao.  Kienlung  came  to 
the  throne  in  1736,  but  his  long  reign  brought 
no  relief  to  the  banished  missionaries.  From 
the  accession  of  Yungching  in  1724  until  the 
present  time,  there  have  been  Roman  Ca- 
tholic missionaries  in  China,  but  their  efforts 
have  been  by  stealth.  A  sketch  of  them  will 
be  attempted  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 

It  is  difficult  to  form  a  correct  and  impar- 
tial estimate  of  the  success  of  the  Jesuits  in 
China.  If  their  own  accounts  be  received, 
it  would  seem  that  triumphs  of  the  gospel 
have  seldom  been  witnessed  equal  to  those 
seen  in  China.  The  people  were  made  will- 
ing in  the  day  of  their  power,  and  their  con- 
verts in  number  and  sincerity  were  like  the 
drops  of  the  morning  dew.  We  are  told  of 
honour  among  the  people,  of  overflowing 
churches,  of  thousands  of  converts,  and  of 
baptisms  innumerable.  We  are  told  of  self- 
denial  and  zeal  which  the  apostles  might 
have  been  proud  to  record,  and  of  miracles 
than  which  no  greater  are  related  in  the 


ROMAN    CATHOLICS    IN    CHINA.  73 

Scriptures  of  truth.  Moses  with  his  rod 
brought  locusts  over  the  land  of  Egypt,  but 
Faber  drove  them  away  from  Shensi  with 
holy  water.  Elijah  divided  the  Jordan  that 
he  might  pass  over,  but  Faber  was  carried 
over  rivers  through  the  air.  When  Peter 
was  confined  in  prison  expecting  death  on 
the  morrow,  an  angel  quietly  led  him  out. 
Schaal  was  condemned  to  be  cut  in  ten  thou- 
sand pieces, "  but  as  often  as  the  princes  of  the 
blood  attempted  to  read  his  sentence,  a  dread- 
ful earthquake  dispersed  the  assembly."* 

Knowing  as  we  do  the  character  of  the 
Jesuits,  which  has  made  their  name  synony- 
mous with  deception,  ambition  and  selfish- 
ness, and  which  led,  not  only  to  their  expul- 
sion from  Japan  and  China,  but  to  their  sup- 
pression by  every  monarch  in  Europe,  and 
by  the  pope  himself  although  they  were  the 
firmest  support  of  his  throne,  we  receive  all 
their  statements  with  large  allowances,  and 
reject  their  miracles.  That  good  was  done 
by  their  means  in  China,  we  rejoice  to  be- 
lieve. That  souls  were  converted  to  the  true 
God  by  their  instructions,  and  that  in  conse- 
quence it  might  be  said  of  some  "behold 
these  from  the  land  of  Sinim!"  we  should  be 
sorry  to  deny,  little  as  we  admire  their  prac- 
tice or  their  principles;  yet  if  they  preached 
Christ  at  all,  "whether  in  pretence  or  in 
truth,  therein  we  do  rejoice,  yea  and  will 
rejoice."  The  praise  of  perseverance,  the 
praise  of  untiring  zeal,  and  of  steady  devo- 

*  Du  Halde,  vol.  ii.>  p.  16. 

7 


74  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

tion  to  their  object,  prejudice  herself  would 
not  deny  them.  The  truth  may  be  held  in 
unrighteousness,  but  it  is  the  truth  still,  and 
it  is  pleasant  to  suppose  that  the  truth  dis- 
persed by  them  in  the  time  of  their  outward 
prosperity  in  China,  fell  occasionally  into 
hearts  where  it  took  root,  and  produced  fruits 
unto  eternal  life. 

But  with  these  limitations,  and  with  the 
exception  of  their  valuable  contributions  to 
science,  we  find  little  in  the  history  of  their 
missions  to  approve.  They  speak  of  thou- 
sands of  converts,  and  describe  in  glowing 
terms  their  zeal  and  devotion.  But  where 
is  the  evidence  to  prove  that  this  zeal  and 
devotion  were  such  as  God  approves?  Zeal 
and  devotion  are  not  peculiar  to  the  true 
faith.  It  was  no  credit  to  the  Jews  that  they 
had  "a  zeal  for  God,  but  not  according  to 
knowledge."  We  ask  for  proofs  of  know- 
ledge of  the  Chinese  converts,  but  we  can 
find  none  that  are  satisfactory.  Instructions 
they  certainly  did  receive,  but  of  what  kind? 
"Catechisms  and  prayers,  solid  controversies 
and  Ignatius'  exercises,"  but  not  the  Bible. 
They  could  translate  the  great  Summa  of 
Thomas  Aquinas,  but  found  "  weighty  rea- 
sons for  not  translating  the  word  of  God."* 
They  published  an  abstract  of  the  moral  law, 
in  which  the  second  command  was  left  out, 
the  fourth  changed  into  "keep  holy  the  fes- 
tivals" and  the  tenth  was  split  in  two.t 

*  Le  Comte,  p,  384,        t  Kircher  China  Illustrata,  p.  127. 


ROMAN    CATHOLICS    IN    CHINA.  75 

They  preferred  to  say  mass  in  the  Latin 
tongue,  though  their  Chinese  priests  could 
not  frame  to  pronounce  the  words  aright; 
and  as  the  Chinese  "are  fond  of  sumptuous 
shows,  and  magnificent  ornaments,  pompous 
processions  and  the  noise  of  bells,  they  took 
extraordinary  pains  to  provide  them  with 
all  that  the  church  allows."*  We  read  these 
things  with  pain,  but  different  feelings  are 
roused,  when  we  find  Le  Comte  and  Du 
Halde  and  others  telling  us,  first  that  the 
Chinese  had  "a  particular  veneration"  for 
the  Virgin  Mary,  and  afterwards  coldly  add- 
ing, that  "  they  loved  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 
Add  to  all  this,  the  constant  bickerings  and 
open  enmities  and  quarrels  (tantaenss  animis 
cxlestibus  irse?^}  of  the  Jesuits,  Dominicans, 
and  Franciscans;  and  the  fact  that  many  of 
them  did  conceal  or  gloss  over  the  distinctive 
features  of  Christianity,:):  and  it  will  appear 
that  though  good  was  done,  it  was  mixed 
up  and  covered  over  with  a  mass  of  evil. 
The  last  day  shall  separate  the  precious  from 
the  vile,  the  chaff  shall  be  dispersed  and  the 
wheat  gathered  in.  Blessed  shall  he  be 
whose  work  shall  abide  when  the  fire  hath 
tried  it,  for  he  shall  receive  a  reward. 

*  Le  Comte,  p.  385. 

t  [Should  such  strifes  be  found  in  heavenly  minds  ?] 
t  There  was  perhaps  more  meaning  in  the  words  of 
Kanghi  than  the  missionaries  were  disposed  to  give  them. 
When  they  besought  him  to  become  a  Christian  and  be 
baptized  "  he  always  excused  himself,  by  saying  he  wor- 
shipped the  same  God  with  the  Christians.7'  John  Bell 
of  Antermony. 


76 


CHAPTER  IV. 


ROMAN    CATHOLICS    IN    CHINA. 

THE  decree  of  Yungching,  in  1724,  expelled 
all  the  Jesuits  and  other  missionaries  from 
the  provinces.  Those  in  Peking  were  al- 
lowed to  remain,  as  their  services  were  needed 
by  the  emperor.  They  were  permitted  to 
retain  their  churches,  and  to  perform  their 
accustomed  services;  but  were  strictly  for- 
bidden to  seek  after  proselytes.  After  the 
first  fury  of  the  storm  was  over,  their  con- 
verts came  around  them  again,  and  for  many 
years  they  enjoyed  a  degree  of  quietness  and 
peace.  But  the  congregations  in  the  pro- 
vinces were  in  a  deplorable  condition.  The 
experience  of  the  Roman  Catholic  missiona- 
ries in  China  has  ever  shown  that,  however 
numerous  and  zealous  their  converts,  the 
presence  of  European  pastors  and  overseers 
is  indispensable  to  their  spiritual  prosperity. 
But  though  driven  away,  arid  threatened 
with  the  severest  penalties  if  they  returned, 
they  did  not  abandon  their  flocks.  From  the 
number  of  their  converts,  in  all  parts  of 
China,  at  the  time  of  their  expulsion,  they 
found  it  easy,  with  due  care  and  caution,  to 
reenter  the  country,  and  spend  more  or  less 
time  in  diiferent  places,  confirming  the  faith 


ROMAN  CATHOLICS  IN  CHINA.  77 

of  former  friends,  and  admitting  new  con- 
verts to  the  ordinances  of  their  church. 

They  have  now  for  more  than  one  hun- 
dred years  supplied  the  churches  in  the  inte- 
rior in  this  way;  and  though  some,  who  were 
entering,  have  been  detected,  imprisoned,  and 
even  suffered  death,  yet  they  have  commonly 
found  others  willing  to  run  the  same  risks 
in  furtherance  of  their  enterprise.  The  chief 
difficulty  is  in  the  first  part  of  their  journey, 
for  they  commonly  enter  the  country  by  way 
of  Canton,  and  there  the  custom-house  offi- 
cers are  more  vigilant,  and  they  have  been 
more  in  danger  of  detection.*  A  trusty  Chi- 
nese convert  is  in  all  cases  sent  to  Canton,  or 
wherever  else  the  missionary  first  lands,  to 
accompany  him  to  the  interior.  He  adopts 
the  Chinese  garb  and  mode  of  dressing  the 
hair,  and  after  a  little  study  of  the  language 
commits  himself  to  the  care  of  the  courier, 
who  seldom  proves  unfaithful  to  his  trust. 
Sometimes  on  foot,  sometimes  in  boats,  some- 
times like  a  rich  man  in  his  sedan  chair,  and 
sometimes  under  the  guise  of  an  officer  in 
his  chariot,  the  missionary  pursues  his  course 
to  his  appointed  field.  If  suspected,  which 
is  often  the  case,  from  the  colour  of  his  eyes, 
the  length  of  his  nose,  or  the  fairness  of  his 
skin,  he  "turns  his  face  to  the  wall:"  if  ad- 
dressed with  impertinent  questions,  he  either 
feigns  deafness,  or  professes  not  to  understand 

*  Since  the  opening  of  the  ports  farther  north,  the  facili- 
ties for  entering  the  country  are  greater,  and  the  danger 
of  detection  very  much  diminished. 


78  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

the  dialect  of  the  questioner.  If  the  case  be- 
comes an  extreme  one,  and  his  conductor 
cannot  browbeat  or  evade  the  challenger,  he 
declares  him  an  idiot,  whom  he  is  conducting 
to  his  friends  in  another  part  of  the  empire; 
or  the  party  seek  safety  in  sudden  flight,  and 
come  together  again  under  cover  of  dark- 
ness.* 

Arrived  at  his  field  of  labour,  he  first  con- 
sults with  those  already  there,  and  is  guided 
entirely  by  their  advice.  His  first  duty  is  to 
learn  the  language;  and  for  this  purpose,  he 
separates  himself  and  lives  in  the  family  of  a 
Chinese  convert,  where  he  hears  nothing  but 
Chinese.t  Occasionally,  if  the  converts  are 
numerous  and  zealous,  he  hears  confessions 
with  the  aid  of  a  manual  prepared  for  that 
purpose.^  In  this  way  they  find,  as  all  who 
adopt  similar  methods  will  find,  that  the  ac- 
quisition of  this  much  dreaded  language  is 
not  a  task  of  insurmountable  difficulty,  nor 
does  it  require  an  extraordinary  length  of 
time,  nor  great  facility  in  learning  languages 
to  master  it.  The  language  being  learned, 
and  the  customs  of  the  people  become  fa- 
miliar, they  commence  their  work.  Their 
fields  of  labour  are  often  very  extensive, 
and  they  seldom  continue  long  in  one  place. 

*  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  vol.  x.  p.  52,  vol. 
ix,  pp.  254-264,  &c. 

t  "  I  was  separated  from  men  who  spoke  Latin  or 
French,  as  from  people  whose  company  was  injurious,  un- 
til I  had  acquired  some  knowledge  of  Chinese.7*  M. 
Gleyo.  Nouvelles  Lettres  Edifiantes,  vol.  i.  p.  38. 

I  Annales,  vol.  x.  p.  98. 


ROMAN  CATHOLICS  IN  CHINA.  79 

This  constant  change  of  residence,  while  it 
diminishes  the  danger  of  detection,  doubtless 
tends  to  the  preservation  of  their  health;  and 
cases  are  not  uncommon,  where  they  live 
twenty,  thirty,  and  even  forty  years,  in  a 
clime  which  many  consider  injurious  to  Eu- 
ropean constitutions.  Perhaps  the  preserva- 
tion of  their  health  may  also  be  attributed  in 
part  to  their  adoption  of  all  the  customs  in 
regard  to  dress,  diet,  and  modes  of  life,  which 
the  experience  of  the  natives  has  shown  to 
be  suited  to  the  country. 

It  is  interesting  to  trace  the  course  of  these 
men,  and  contrast  their  condition  and  exer- 
tions with  those  of  their  predecessors,  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  Then  the  Jesuits  were 
the  lords  of  the  ascendant.  The  country  was 
opened  to  them;  the  nobles  of  the  land  bowed 
before  them;  the  monarch  smiled  upon  them; 
and  the  rich  and  the  great  flocked  to  their 
churches.  Now  they  are  few;  they  go  through 
the  land  in  secrecy;  they  avoid  the  highways 
and  the  crowd;  and  find  their  converts  among 
the  poor,  and  "in  the  country, for  in  Chinese 
cities  as  elsewhere,  the  spirit  of  the  world  is 
bad  for  religion."*  Rarely  too  does  a  year 
pass  in  which  some  of  their  converts  are  not 
carried  before  the  magistrates,  and  punished 
by  fine,  imprisonment,  or  torture,  for  em- 
bracing a  religion  forbidden  by  the  laws.  Yet 
it  is  "during  times  of  persecution  that  the 
faith  of  the  converts  is  most  fervent."t  Nor 
are  the  foreign  missionaries  exemptedfrom  the 

*  Nouvelles  Lettres  Edifiantes,  vol.  i.,  p.  195. 
t  Ibid.,  p.  221. 


80  THE    LAND    OP    SIXIM. 

same  dangers,  as  several  of  them  have  fatally 
experienced.  "The  Jesuits  could  not  suc- 
ceed in  executing  the  great  design  conceived 
by  Xavier,  of  converting  the  emperor  and 
his  grandees:  their  successors  now  labour  in 
humility,  in  obscurity,  in  the  midst  of  pains 
and  tribulations,  and  exposed  to  the  dangers 
of  persecution,  of  prison,  of  torments,  and  of 
death."* 

The  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  have 
laboured  during  the  last  hundred  years  in 
most  of  the  provinces  of  the  empire,  but  their 
most  successful  missions  have  been  in  Fukien, 
Shdnsi,  and  Sz'chuen.  The  mission  in  Shansi, 
comprising  the  provinces  of  Shdnsi,  Sherisi, 
and  Kansuh,  with  the  oversight  of  that  of 
Hukwang,  has  been  chiefly  conducted  by 
Italians  of  the  order  of  the  Lazarists.  That 
in  Fukien,  comprising  also  the  provinces  of 
Chekidng  and  Kidngsi,  has  been  under  the 
Spanish  Dominicans  of  Manila.  While  that 
of  Sz'chuen  has  been  administered  solely  by 
Frenchmen.!  In  attempting  a  sketch  of  their 
missions  during  the  period  under  considera- 
tion, we  shall  confine  ourselves  chiefly  to  that 
of  Sz'chuen,  with  occasional  notices  of  events 
that  were  felt  through  the  rest  of  the  empire. 

The  mission  to  Sz'chuen  includes  the  three 
provinces  of  Sz'chuen,  Yunndn,  and  Kwei- 
chau,  and  is  under  the  superintendence  of 

*  Annales,  vol.  x.,  p.  114.  [Since  this  sketch  was  writ- 
ten, the  Emperor  of  China,  at  the  instance  of  the  French 
Minister,  has  published  an  Edict  giving  a  qualified  tolera- 
tion to  the  Christian  religion.  See  this  Edict  in  the  Mis- 
sionary Chronicle,  1845,  p.  154,  or  308.-— Ed.] 

t  Nouv.  Lett,  Edif.,  vol.  i,,  Introduction. 


ROMAN    CATHOLICS    IN    CHINA.  81 

the  seminary  for  foreign  missions  in  Paris. 
Many  letters  from  its  missionaries  are  found 
in  the  collection  Nouvelles  Lettres  Edifi- 
antes,  published  in  Paris  in  1818,  and  in 
the  Jinnales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi, 
which  we  shall  often  have  occasion  to  quote. 
This  mission  is  under  the  charge  of  a  bishop 
in  partible,  called  "  the  Apostolic  Vicar 
of  Sz'chuen;"  another  bishop  in  partibus, 
called  his  "Coadjutor;"  and  several  Euro- 
pean priests,  or  "apostolic  missionaries,"  be- 
sides Chinese  priests,  catechists,  and  teachers. 
It  was  commenced  by  some  Italian  Laza- 
rists,  in  1702,  when  the  Jesuits  were  in  the 
height  of  their  glory  in  China,  but  for  some 
reason,  which  does  not  clearly  appear,  a  per- 
secution arose  in  1707,  and  the  missionaries 
in  this  province  were  all  banished  by  order 
of  the  emperor,  except  Appiani,  who  was 
kept  in  irons  till  his  death  in  1728.*  The 
enemies  of  the  Jesuits  do  not  scruple  to  charge 
them  with  having  fomented  this  persecution, 
in  order  that  they  might  have  the  field  en- 
tirely to  themselves.t  M.  Mullerier  one  of 
the  banished  missionaries  secretly  returned 
in  1712,  and  being  consecrated  bishop  of 
Myriopolis,  continued  his  labours  until  his 
death  in  1743.  A  violent  persecution  raged 
in  1747,  in  which  all  the  foreign  priests  in  the 
provinces  were  detected  and  sent  away,  and 
only  three  Chinese  priests  were  left.  The 
same  persecution  extended  to  the  other  pro- 

*  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.,  vol.  i.,  Int.  p.  iii. 
t  Anecdotes  de  la  Chine,  torn,  i.,  Appendix. 
8 


82  THE  LAND  OF  SINIM. 

vinces,  and  Sanz  and  five  other  Dominicans 
lost  their  lives  in  Fukien.*  M.  Pottier  suc- 
ceeded in  entering  Sz'chuen  in  1755,  and 
being  consecrated  bishop  of  Agathopolis  in 
1769,  and  strengthened  by  the  arrival  of  ad- 
ditional labourers,  the  mission  became  from 
that  time  one  of  the  most  flourishing  in 
China.  The  number  of  converts  in  1755 
scarcely  amounted  to  four  thousand;  in  1769, 
there  were  seven  thousand,  and  in  a  few 
years  after  the  number  was  more  than 
doubled. 

The  missions  in  Yunnan  and  Kweichau 
were  also  commenced  in  1702,  but  the  mis- 
sionaries being  driven  away  in  the  same  per- 
secution in  1707,  they  never  flourished.  In 
1755,  both  these  provinces  were  committed 
by  the  pope  to  the  care  of  the  apostolic  vicar 
of  Sz'chuen,  and  have  ever  since  been  con- 
nected with  that  mission.! 

In  1767,  a  persecution  commenced  which 
continued  with  some  severity  for  several 
months.  M.  Gleyo,  who  had  been  about 
two  years  in  the  province,  being  apprehend- 
ed, was  loaded  with  irons  and  cast  into 
prison,  where  he  was  kept  among  the  com- 
mon malefactors  for  the  space  of  eight  years. 
During  this  time  he  was  several  times  sub- 
jected to  severe  tortures  to  induce  him  to 
deny  the  faith  he  came  to  preach.  The  Chi- 
nese officers  were  loth  to  report  to  their  supe- 
riors that  a  European  had  been  seized  within 

*  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.  vol.  i.,  Int.  p.  iv.,  and  p.  454. 
f  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  Int,  p.  iv,,  seq. 


ROMAN    CATHOLICS    IN    CHINA.  83 

their  jurisdiction,  and  they  sought  to  force 
from  him  a  confession  that  he  was  a  Chinese; 
failing  in  this  they  detained  him  in  prison, 
apparently  with  the  intention  of  causing  his 
death  by  neglect  and  ill-treatment.  The  con- 
stancy with  which  he  endured  this  long  and 
painful  imprisonment,  and  the  fortitude  with 
which  he  bore  repeated  beatings  with  bam- 
boos, compression  of  the  ancles,  and  kneel- 
ing for  hours  together  upon  chains,  are  worthy 
of  all  praise.  His  boldness  in  professing 
Christ,  and  his  devotion  and  sincerity  are 
pleasingly  shown  in  some  letters  he  wrote 
while  imprisoned,  and  in  his  subsequent  ac- 
count of  his  sufferings.*  He  was  not  re- 
leased until  1777,  when  a  Jesuit  from  the 
capital  passing  to  Tibet  on  business  for  the 
emperor,  employed  his  influence  to  have  him 
released,  and  delivered  him  to  some  Chinese 
converts  who  speedily  conveyed  him  to  his 
fellow  labourers.  He  was  concealed  by  them, 
and  remained  several  years  longer  in  the 
country,  though  his  health  never  recovered 
from  the  effects  of  his  imprisonment  and 
tortures.  The  courage  and  perseverance  of 
his  colleagues  was  equally  remarkable,  for 
at  the  time  of  his  apprehension  they  were 
obliged  to  flee  from  their  houses,  and  lodge 
in  holes  and  in  dens  whose  possession  they 
disputed  with  the  foxes.t  Two  of  them  re- 
tired for  a  few  months  to  Shdnsl,  where  Pot- 
tier  received  the  episcopal  consecration,  and 

*  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.,  vol.  i.,  p.  45,  seq. 
tlbid.,  vol.  i.,  p.  101. 


84  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

when  the  violence  of  -the  persecution  subsided 
they  returned  and  resumed  their  labours. 

About  the  time  of  the  liberation  of  M. 
Gleyo,  they  were  joined  by  several  other 
missionaries,  and  for  four  or  five  years  en- 
joyed great  quietness  and  much  success  in 
their  efforts  to  convert  the  pagans.  A  letter 
written  by  M.  Pottier  in  1782,  gives  the  full- 
est account  we  have  seen  of  their  modes  of 
prosecuting  their  labours.  The  number  of 
foreign  missionaries  at  that  time  was  seven, 
together  with  six  native  priests;  but  these 
were  so  few  compared  with  the  number  of 
their  converts,  and  their  great  dispersion 
throughout  the  province,  that  it  was  "abso- 
lutely impossible  to  preach  often  enough  to 
instruct  them  well."  In  order  to  remedy 
this  defect  as  far  as  possible,  they  established 
schools  for  children  of  both  sexes,  which 
were  taught  by  experienced  converts.  They 
also  printed  books  for  their  edification.  Their 
great  means  of  instruction,  and  that  on  which 
they  principally  relied,  was  to  prepare  cate- 
chists  and  native  priests.  The  foreigners 
never  showed  themselves  to  the  pagans,  nor 
attempted  to  instruct  them  in  religion. 
This  was  always  left  to  the  catechists 
and  native  priests,  and  when  these  judged 
their  catechumens  sufficiently  advanced  they 
brought  them  to  the  bishop  or  other  foreign 
priest  to  receive  farther  instruction  and  con- 
firmation.* The  education  of  a  native  clergy 

*  In  consequence  of  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the 
missions  in  China,  dispensations  have  been  granted  by  the 


ROMAN    CATHOLICS    IN    CHINA.  85 

has  always  been  an  object  of  first  importance 
with  this  mission,  and  for  this  purpose  a  col- 
lege was  established  on  the  borders  of  Yun- 
nan in  1780,  to  which  one  of  the  mission- 
aries gave  the  whole  of  his  time.  The  num- 
ber of  pupils  seldom  exceeded  eighteen. 

Another  object,  whose  importance  was  so 
great  in  the  eyes  of  the  good  bishop  as  to 
merit  special  notice,  was  to  furnish  their 
converts  with  crucifixes,  medals,  and  other 
religious  images,  to  keep  up  the  spirit  of  their 
devotions,  and  "God  wrought  several  mira- 
cles among  them  to  authorize  this  practice." 
Another  object  of  chief  importance  (if  we 
may  judge  by  their  declarations,  and  the  fre- 
quency with  which  it  is  noticed,)  was  to  bap- 
tize the  moribunds,  or  dying  children  of  hea- 
then parents.  In  1779,  there  was  a  famine 
in  Sz'chuen,  in  reference  to  which  they  re- 
mark, "If  this  plague  has  taken  away  many 
citizens  of  the  earth,  it  has  also  carried  many 
to  heaven.  We  have  baptized  many  children 
of  unbelievers.  We  send  everywhere  neo- 
phytes of  both  sexes  to  administer  this  sacra- 
ment to  infants  in  danger  of  death.  In  the 
east  of  this  province  where  the  famine  was 
most  severe,  twenty  thousand  were  baptized: 
in  the  other  parts  ten  thousand  more."  Once 
they  tell  us  that  in  three  years  time  they  bap- 
tized one  hundred  thousand  infants;  and 
soon  after,  to  arouse  the  compassion  and  ex- 
pope  in  virtue  of  which  a  single  bishop  may  consecrate 
another,  and  ordinary  priests  administer  the  rite  of  con- 
firmation. 


86  THE  LAND  OF  SINIM. 

cite  the  liberality  of  their  countrymen  in 
France,  the  bishop  writes,  "It  is  certain  that 
in  these  three  provinces  there  die  every  year 
one  hundred  thousand  infants  who  shall 
never  see  God."* 

The  number  of  converts  now  began  to 
increase  with  some  rapidity,  and  as  they  in- 
creased they  were  subjected  to  various  petty 
persecutions.  Indeed  the  majority  of  the 
letters  in  the  first  of  the  collections  above  re- 
ferred to,  are  mainly  filled  with  minute  de- 
tails of  the  grievances  to  which  those  who 
embraced  "  the  religion  of  the  Lord  of  Hea- 
ven/' were  subjected  by  their  heathen  neigh- 
bours. The  causes  of  these  "persecutions" 
were  various.  Sometimes  because  the  con- 
verts would  not  contribute  to  the  erection  of 
idol  temples,  or  to  the  expenses  of  idolatrous 
feasts  and  processions;  sometimes  because 
they  would  not  bury  their  dead  according  to 
pagan  customs,  or  join  in  the  public  worship 
of  ancestors;  and  sometimes  because  of  their 
breaking  off  marriage  engagements  made  in 
infancy  when  one  of  the  parties  or  her  pa- 
rents became  Christians  before  it  was  con- 
summated. This  latter  was  perhaps  the 
most  frequent  cause  of  the  vexations  (or 
"  persecutions,"  for  they  are  always  dignified 
with  that  title,)  to  which  they  were  exposed. 
When  the  persecutions  became  severe,  they 
had  various  methods  of  escaping  from  their 

*  For  the  statements  of  these  two  paragraphs,  see  the 
bishop's  letter,  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.,  vol.  i.,  pp.  347-366; 
also  p.  300. 


ROMAN    CATHOLICS    IN    CHINA.  87 

fury.  Sometimes  they  "fled  to  another  city;" 
sometimes  they  prepared  a  feast  for  their 
accusers;  sometimes,  though  they  would  not 
contribute  to  the  erection  of  a  temple,  or  the 
expense  of  an  idolatrous  feast,  they  would 
defray  the  charges  of  the  theatrical  exhibi- 
tion which  followed.*  If  the  persecution 
became  yet  more  violent,  they  sometimes 
found  relief  by  applying  to  the  mathemati- 
cal missionaries  in  Peking,  who  had  not  yet 
lost  all  influence,  and  were  able  by  presents 
and  promises,  to  calm  the  rage  of  the  local  offi- 
cers, and  obtain  peace  for  the  people.!  But 
even  they  were  not  always  thus  successful. 

In  the  years  1784  and  1785,  a  fierce  and 
terrible  persecution  raged  throughout  the 
empire.  It  originated  in  the  detection  of  four 
European  priests  going  in  company  to  Shensi. 
They  were  escorted  by  three  Chinese  Chris- 
tians named  Tsai,  Bartholomeu  Sie,  and 
Peter  Sie,  and  had  already  reached  the  bor- 
ders of  Hukwang,  when  they  were  betrayed 
by  an  apostate,  and  being  immediately  ap- 
prehended they  were  cast  into  prison,  and 
finally  sent  to  Peking.  Tsai  with  great  dif- 
ficulty escaped  to  Canton  where  he  was  con- 
cealed for  a  time,  but  the  Chinese  authorities 
in  Canton,  hearing  of  it,  sent  to  demand  him 
of  the  Portuguese.  The  senate  after  delibera- 
tion refused  to  give  him  up,  upon  which  the 
Chinese  gave  orders  that  no  provisions  should 
be  brought  into  the  city,  and  even  threatened 

*  Annales,  vol.  v.,  p.  682. 

t  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.,  vol.  ii.  p.  25. 


88  THE  LAND  OP  SINIM. 

to  assail  it  with  military  force.  The  senate 
however  continued  firm,  and  began  to  arm 
the  forts,  whereupon  the  Chinese  withdrew 
the  prohibition  on  provisions,  but  continued 
their  efforts  to  apprehend  Tsai.  Notwith- 
standing their  searches,  he  found  means  to 
elude  them,  and  finally  succeeded  in  escaping, 
along  with  Bartholomeu  Sie,  to  Goa.* 

In  December  1784,  a  royal  edict  against 
the  Roman  Catholics  was  issued  and  sent  to 
all  the  provinces,  and  in  every  place  the 
greatest  efforts  were  made  to  apprehend  the 
foreigners  and  their  abettors.  In  addition  to 
the  four  whose  apprehension  gave  the  first 
impulse  to  the  persecution,  a  number  of  others 
were  discovered,  and  sent  to  Peking.  M.  De 
la  Tour,  the  procureur  of  some  of  the  mis- 
sions, was  taken  in  the  factories  in  Canton 
and  carried  to  Peking,  and  the  hong-merchant 
who  had  been  his  security  was  glad  to  pur- 
chase his  own  immunity  by  the  sacrifice  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  taels  of 
silver.  MM.  Magi  and  Saconi  were  appre- 
hended in  Shensi,  and  Otho  and  Crescen- 
tianus  in  Shdntung.  In  the  latter  province 
the  father  Mariano  delivered  himself  up  to 
his  pursuers  rather  than  surfer  his  converts 
to  be  tortured  on  his  account.  F.  de  St.  Mi- 
chael was  taken  in  Fukien,  and  M.  De  la 
Roche,  aged  eighty  years  died  on  his  way 
from  Hukwang  to  Peking.t 

*  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.,  vol.  ii.  p.  44,  seq. 
t  Ibid ,  vol.  ii.  p.  64-81. 


ROMAN  CATHOLICS  IN  CHINA.  89 

But  it  was  in  Sz'chuen  that  the  greatest 
efforts  were  made  to  discover  the  foreigners, 
and  where  the  churches  suffered  most  se- 
verely. There  were  then  in  the  province, 
the  two  bishops,  Pottier  and  Didier,  and  six 
other  European  priests.  Pottier  was  at  one 
time  obliged  to  conceal  himself  "  for  a  month 
in  a  small  house,  arid  in  so  confined  a  place, 
that  he  hardly  dared  either  to  cough  or  to 
spit  for  fear  of  being  discovered."  His  coad- 
jutor, the  bishop  of  Caradre  was  less  for- 
tunate. He  was  seized,  and  such  search  was 
made  for  MM.  Dufresse,  Devaut,  and  Delpon, 
that  he  advised  them  to  surrender  lest  their 
flocks  should  be  persecuted  on  their  account. 
They  immediately  complied,  and  appeared" 
before  the  officers,  who  treated  them  with 
much  civility,  but  sent  them  like  all  the  rest 
to  Peking.* 

In  several  of  the  provinces,  the  native 
Christians  were  cruelly  harassed;  many  of 
them  being  arrested,  and  either  imprisoned, 
tortured,  or  banished  to  Tartary.  In  Sz'chuen 
they  suffered  less,  as  but  few  of  them  were 
called  before  the  magistrates.  Their  greatest 
loss  was  in  their  foreign  priests,  for  four  of 
them  being  taken  away,  there  were  but  four 
left,  arid  of  these,  only  one  possessed  the 
health  and  vigour  to  endure  much  labour  and 
fatigue.  Uncertain  how  long  the  storm  might 
last,  or  where  its  fury  should  spend  itself, 
they  began  to  fear,  that  in  China,  as  in  Japan 

Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.,  vol.  ii.  p.  76,  159. 


90  THE  LAND  OP  SINIM. 

none  should  be  left  to  propagate  the  religion 
of  the  cross.* 

When  the  missionaries  arrived  in  Peking, 
they  were  thrown  into  the  prisons,  and  loaded 
with  irons;  and  those  already  in  the  capital 
in  the  emperor's  service  were  strictly  forbid- 
den to  render  them  assistance.  It  was  some 
time  before  they  were  allowed  to  relieve  their 
most  pressing  bodily  wants,  and  when  per- 
mission was  received,  it  came  too  late,  Magi, 
Saconi,  De  la  Tour,  Devant,  and  Delpon, 
were  already  dead  from  ill-treatment  in  pri- 
son, besides  De  la  Roche  who  died  on  his 
way  to  the  capital.  There  still  remained  in 
the  prisons  twelve  foreigners,  besides  native 
priests  and  assistants.  The  final  decree  of 
the  emperor,  in  October,  1785,  condemned 
the  Europeans  to  perpetual  imprisonment,  as 
the  penalty  of  their  secretly  entering  the  em- 
pire, and  preaching  a  forbidden  religion. 
Their  Chinese  priests,  assistants,  and  couriers 
were  branded  on  the  face,  and  banished  to 
Tartary  as  slaves  for  life.t 

For  some  unexplained  reason,  the  empe- 
ror suddenly  altered  their  sentence,  and  a 
royal  order  dated  Nov.  10th,  1785,  set  all  the 
foreigners  free,  and  gave  them  their  choice, 
either  to  remain  at  Peking  in  the  service  of 
the  emperor,  or  to  be  conveyed  at  his  expense 
to  Canton,  whence  they  were  to  leave  China 
by  the  first  opportunity.  Such  was  the  state 
of  surveillance  under  which  the  missionaries 

*  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.,  vol.  ii.  pp,  177, 181. 
t  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  pp.  78,  226. 


ROMAN    CATHOLICS    IN    CHINA.  91 

were  forced  to  live  in  the  capital,  that  but 
three  of  them  chose  the  former  alternative, 
while  nine,  some  of  whom  at  least  had  de- 
termined to  embrace  the  earliest  opportunity 
of  returning  to  their  fields  of  labour,  chose 
the  latter.  Among  these  were  Didier  and 
Dufresse  of  the  Sz'chuen  mission,  who  left 
China  for  Manila  with  heavy  hearts.  The 
lamentations  of  the  latter,  which  came  from 
a  sincere  heart,  were  touching  in  the  extreme. 
"Alas!  China  is  now  deprived  of  its  mis- 
sionaries. How  many  infants  must  die  with- 
out baptism,  and  adults  without  the  sacra- 
ments! How  many  righteous  must  fall, 
while  there  shall  be  none  to  lead  them  back! 
How  many  heathen  must  fail  of  conversion ! 
What  superstitions  must  now  prevail!  No 
more  sacraments !  No  more  preaching !  No 
more  prayers  and  instructions!  No  more 
exhortation  to  good  works,  but  idolatry  re- 
sumes its  ancient  seat!"* 

This  persecution  was  heard  of  with  deep  in- 
terest throughout  the  Roman  Catholic  church, 
and  the  confessors  were  treated  with  all  the 
honours  due  to  those  who  had  almost  suf- 
fered martyrdom.  At  Manila,  the  bishop  of 
Caradre,  and  M.  Dufresse  were  received  with 
applause.  They  landed  amidst  the  shouts 
of  the  spectators,  and  the  firing  of  cannon. 
They  were  visited  by  the  archbishop,  the 
governor,  the  senators,  and  the  principal  offi- 
cers, and  the  authorities  of  the  place  pro- 

*  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.,  vol.  ii.  pp.  322,  339. 


92  THE    LAND    OP    SINIM. 

vided  a  coach  and  four  in  which  they  insisted 
that  the  bishop  should  ride.  In  Europe  the 
sensation  was  also  felt,  and  the  pope  (Pius 
VI.)  published  a  brief  in  which  he  warmly 
commended  the  bishops  of  Agathopolis  and 
Caradre  for  their  constancy  and  courage, 
and  consoled  them  for  their  sufferings.* 
Many  calamities  visited  China  soon  after 
this  persecution,  in  which  the  missiona- 
ries did  not  fail  to  see  the  hand  of  God 
avenging  their  wrongs.  Some  of  their  bit- 
terest persecutors  came  to  untimely  ends.  A 
tyfoon  devastated  the  coasts.  The  revolt  in 
Formosa  was  with  difficulty  quelled.  An 
earthquake  in  Sz'chuen  destroyed  a  hundred 
thousand  pagans,  while  not  a  Christian  lost 
his  life;  and  a  famine  destroyed  many  thou- 
sands more.t 

It  was  several  years,  and  then  only  after 
repeated  disappointments,  before  Didier  and 
Dufresse  were  able  to  reenter  China.  They 
proposed  at  first  to  go  by  way  of  Fukien,  and 
then  by  way  of  Tongking,  but  failed  in  each 
attempt,  and  at  last  succeeded  in  entering  by 
the  usual  route,  through  Canton  and  Kwei- 
chau.  They  reached  Sz'chuen,  in  1 788,  after 
an  absence  of  four  years,  and  were  speedily 
at  their  accustomed  work.J 

Pottier  died  in  1792,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
eight.  He  had  been  thirty-five  years  in 
China,  and  had  been  indefatigable  in  toils 
and  labours.  He  had  frequently  been  pur- 

*  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif ,  vol.  ii.  pp.  394,  439. 

t  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  p.  430.  I  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  p.  503. 


ROMAN  CATHOLICS  IN  CHINA.  93 

sued,  and  had  once  delivered  himself  up  to 
the  authorities,  but  found  means  to  escape  as 
they  were  conducting  him  to  Canton,  and  re- 
turned to  his  post.  His  self-denial,  simplicity, 
and  humanity  were  admirable.  He  never 
wore  silk;  commonly  possessed  but  three 
shirts,  and  lived  as  the  poorer  Chinese  do. 
During  his  administration,  the  affairs  of  the 
mission  prospered,  and  the  number  of  con- 
verts increased  from  four  thousand,  to  more 
than  six  times  that  number.  His  remains 
were  interred  near  Chingtu  fu,  the  capital  of 
the  province.* 

Pottier  was  succeeded  in  his  apostolic  vi- 
cariate  by  Didier,  titular  bishop  of  Caradre. 
It  was  about  this  time  that  the  French  revo- 
lution disturbed  all  the  institutions  of  France, 
and  the  directors  of  the  seminary  of  Foreign 
Missions  could  do  little  or  nothing  either  in 
sending  additional  missionaries,  or  even  funds 
for  the  support  of  those  already  in  the  field. 
They  were  in  consequence  reduced  to  great 
straits,  for  they  were  obliged  to  depend  upon 
their  seminary  alone  for  a  supply  of  priests, 
and  the  number  thence  obtained  was  very 
small.  This  is  rather  surprising.  During  a 
course  of  twenty  years  they  numbered  their 
converts  by  thousands  annually,  and  yet  out 
of  all  these,  they  found  but  nine  whom  they 
were  willing  to  bring  into  the  ministry.  The 
whole  time  of  one  of  the  foreign  priests  was 
given  to  the  seminary.!  Yet,  notwithstand- 

*  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.,  vol.  iii.  pp.  79-84.     . 
t  Ibid.,  vol.  iii.  pp.  373,  445. 


94  THE    LAND    OP    SINIM. 

ing  these  difficulties,  the  last  ten  years  of  the 
eighteenth  century  were  years  of  great  suc- 
cess, and  it  was  remarked  by  some  that  while 
religion  lost  ground  in  France,  it  gained  in 
China.  They  had  many  schools  for  the 
young:  their  European  and  native  priests 
were  indefatigable  in  labours,  and  the  num- 
ber of  their  converts  was  very  great.  During 
the  nine  years  ending  in  1801,  they  increased 
from  twenty-five  thousand  to  forty  thousand, 
and  this  too,  though  occasionally  in  persecu- 
tions. In  general  they  were  not  troubled  by  the 
heathen  around  them,  but  sometimes  a  newly 
appointed  officer  either  to  gratify  his  vanity 
or  his  love  of  power,  by  persecuting  the 
Christians,  threw  obstacles  in  their  way. 
This  was  particularly  the  case  in  Sin-fu, 
when  the  magistrate,  besides  other  tortures, 
forced  the  Christians  to  swallow  human  ex- 
crements. This  gave  the  pagans  occasion  to 
say,  "your  religion  is  very  good,  but  the 
means  with  which  they  nourish  you  in  the 
offices  of  the  magistrates  are  not  tempting, 
and  we  cannot  embrace  it."* 

Occasions  to  vex  them  were  often  taken 
from  their  refusing  to  contribute  their  quotas 
of  the  expense  of  idolatrous  rites,  and  espe- 
cially from  their  refusal  to  perform  the  pagan 
ceremonies  at  the  funerals  of  the  dead.  The 
converts  wished  their  friends  to  be  buried 
according  to  the  forms  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
church,  to  which  the  pagans  made  great  ob- 

*  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.,  vol.  ii.  p.  501. 


ROMAN  CATHOLICS  IN  CHINA.  95 

jections.  even  resorting  to  violence  and  drag- 
ging them  before  the  magistrates.  On  one 
occasion  the  Christians  having  no  other  re- 
source, threatened  to  carry  the  body  of  the 
deceased  into  the  house  of  the  pagan  relatives, 
and  then  suffer  them  to  do  with  it  as  they 
pleased.  As  the  Chinese  esteem  it  very  un- 
lucky to  have  a  dead  body  brought  into  the 
house,  this  proposal  alarmed  them,  and  the 
Christians  were  allowed  to  take  their  own 
course.*  They  were  also  often  confounded 
with  the  Pehlien  kidu,  a  secret  society,  whose 
object  was  to  overthrow  the  government  and 
restore  the  power  to  the  native  Chinese, 
which  was  very  active  in  Sz'chuen  at  the 
end  of  the  eighteenth  century.  In  conse- 
quence they  were  frequently  brought  be- 
fore the  magistrates,  and  exposed  to  per- 
sonal inconvenience  and  pecuniary  loss  on 
this  account.  But  the  most  common  and  the 
most  annoying  cause  of  troubles  was  con- 
cerning marriages.  It  is  the  custom  in  China 
to  betroth  parties  at  a  very  early  age,  and 
this  custom  has  all  the  force  of  law,  even  in 
the  public  offices.  It  often  happened  that 
the  parents  of  one  of  the  parties  became  con- 
verts after  the  betrothal,  and  of  course,  sought 
to  train  up  their  children  in  their  new  belief. 
When  the  parents  of  the  betrothed  son  be- 
came converts,  there  was  no  difficulty,  for  the 
woman  he  married  was  so  under  his  control, 
and  the  control  of  his  parents,  that  she  was 

*  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.,  vol.  iii.  pp.  47,  48. 


96  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

almost  sure  to  become  a  convert  also.  But 
when  the  parents  of  the  daughter  became 
converts,  and  the  parents  of  the  son  remained 
pagans,  the  difficulty  became  great.  The 
marriage  of  the  girl  to  a  heathen  almost  en- 
sured her  becoming  a  heathen  likewise,  and 
hence  her  parents  made  many  eiforts  to  break 
the  engagement. 

This  was  sometimes  done  in  a  sufficiently 
unscrupulous  manner,  and  few  things  drew 
more  odium  on  the  Christians  than  this.  On 
one  occasion  when  the  parents  were  seeking 
to  break  an  engagement,  a  sister  of  the  be- 
trothed suddenly  died,  and  the  parents  de- 
clared that  the  deceased  was  the  one  who 
had  been  betrothed.  As  neither  the  young 
man  nor  his  friends  had  ever  seen  the  be- 
trothed, (according  to  Chinese  custom)  the 
story  was  believed,  and  thus  the  match  was 
effectually  ended.  It  is  with  pain  that  we 
read  this  remark  by  the  bishop  of  Caradre  at 
the  close  of  his  account  of  the  affair:  "I 
think  the  faith  of  the  parents  and  the  purity 
of  their  motives  will  readily  "excuse  them  be- 
fore God,  for  the  sin  of  lying."*  This  is 
quite  too  much  like  doing  evil  that  good  may 
come.  As  little  do  we  approve  their  exhort- 
ing some  of  their  converts  to  a  life  of  celibacy. 
M.  Moy6  an  early  missionary,  says,  "  A  mem- 
ber of  my  flock  had  a  daughter  already  pro- 
mised in  marriage,  but  I  thought  God  called 
her  to  a  life  of  virginity,  to  be  an  example 

*  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.,  vol.  iii.  p.  225. 


ROMAN  CATHOLICS  IN  CHINA.  97 

to  believers."  Accordingly  the  missionary 
sought  to  break  the  engagement,  which  the 
Chinese  considered  as  valid  as  marriage  it- 
self. The  father  was  unwilling  to  consent 
to  this  proposal,  and  it  was  not  till  he  was 
convinced  by  a  miracle  of  healing,  which 
came  very  opportunely,  that  he  gave  his  con- 
sent.* 

Didier  died  in  1801,  at  the  age  of  sixty-one, 
and  M.  Dufresse  who  had  been  chosen  the 
year  before  as  his  coadjutor,  with  the  title  of 
bishop  of  Tabraca,  succeeded  as  apostolic 
vicar  of  Sz'chuen.  Of  this  gentleman's  piety 
and  zeal  we  are  disposed  to  form  a  high 
opinion.  His  letters  abound  with  remarks 
written  in  a  Christian  spirit.  There  are  com- 
paratively few  references  to  the  Virgin  Mary, 
or  to  other  saints:  no  mention  of  relics,  no 
parading  of  miracles,  but  frequent  and  de- 
lightful allusions  to  Christ,  and  appropriate 
quotations  from  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  We 
have  been  particularly  pleased  with  a  letter 
written  by  him  to  some  pupils  from  his  dio- 
cese, during  the  time  they  spent  at  the  "mis- 
sion seminary  at  Penang.  The  letter  fills  ten 
octavo  pages,  and  with  the  exception  of 
seven  lines,  there  is  scarcely  a  sentence  that 
would  not  be  readily  excused  by,  or  meet  the 
approbation  of  a  Protestant.  The  pupils  to 
whom  he  wrote  were  in  a  strange  land,  and 
surrounded  by  many  dangers  and  tempta- 
tions. Their  faithful  pastor  would  guard 

*  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.,  vol.  i.  p.  412. 
9 


98  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

them  against  dangers  and  point  them  to  the 
rock  where  their  strength  lay.  "  Be  not  dis- 
couraged; Jesus  Christ,  who  has  conquered 
the  world  and  hell,  and  broke  the  sceptre  of 
their  power,  will  give  you  the  victory,  if  you 
continue  faithful  to  his  grace,  which  shall 
never  fail  you,  if  you  persevere  in  the  love 
and  fear  of  God  so  as  to  give  no  entrance 
into  your  hearts  to  any  mortal  sin,  and  if  you 
wander  not  from  the  paths  he  has  traced  for 
you.  He  will  be  your  consolation  in  tribu- 
lations and  labours,  your  shelter  in  adversity, 
your  fortress  in  dangers,  the  giver  of  strength 
in  labour,  and  of  resignation  in  infirmity,  the 
author  of  light  and  progress  in  your  studies, 
your  assured  defence  against  all  the  secret 
assaults  of  all  your  enemies  visible  and  in- 
visible, and  a  healing  balm  to  soothe  the  sor- 
rows of  your  flesh  and  spirit.  He  will  not 
suffer  you  to  be  tempted  above  your  strength, 
but  in  the  day  of  your  temptation,  he  will 
give  you  the  strength  necessary  to  overcome. 
Let  sin  be  the  only  object  of  your  fear."* 
Could  the  Roman  Catholic  churches  always 
boast  of  priests  and  missionaries  of  such  a 
spirit,  they  would  present  a  widely  different 
appearance,  both  in  Christian  and  in  heathen 
lands. 

During  the  administration  of  M.  Dufresse, 
the  number  of  converts  increased  with  great 
rapidity.  Up  to  1809,  there  were  frequently 
fifteen  hundred,  and  even  more  baptisms  of 

*  Annales,  vol.  i.,  No.  9,  p.  68. 


ROMAN    CATHOLICS    IN    CHINA.  99 

adults  in  a  single  year,  but  since  that  time 
the  number  diminished  and  has  never  again 
been  so  great.  In  the  early  part  of  his  admin- 
istration, they  enjoyed  great  peace  and  quiet- 
ness, so  that  they  even  held  a  council  of  the 
foreign  and  native  priests,  for  the  purpose  of 
settling  principles,  and  extending  their  influ- 
ence. The  acts  of  this  council  were  after- 
wards published  at  Rome.* 

An  event  which  occurred  in  1804,  occa- 
sioned a  violent  persecution,  and  gave  the 
Roman  Catholic  religion  in  China,  a  blow 
from  which  it  has  not  yet  recovered.  The 
Portuguese  and  Italian  missionaries  \vho  still 
resided  at  Peking  had  some  dispute  about  the 
limits  of  their  respective  missions,  arid  being 
unable  to  decide  it  themselves,  they  referred  it 
to  Rome.  In  order  to  accomplish  their  object 
more  readily,  P.  Adeodat  drew  a  chart  of  the 
province  of  Shdntung  and  sent  it  with  his 
letters.  Unfortunately  the  messenger  was 
seized  in  Kiangsi,  and  the  circumstance  of 
such  a  chart  being  sent  to  a  foreign  power, 
roused  the  jealousy  and  suspicions  of  the 
Chinese  court,  and  a  searching  investiga- 
tion was  commenced.  The  missionaries  at 
Peking  were  rigorously  examined,  and  their 
answers, "  which  were  embarrassed,  their  rea- 
sons weak,  and  their  explanations  obscure,"t 
had  no  tendency  to  improve  their  prospects. 
The  anger  of  the  higher  officers  knew  no 
bounds.  "  These  wretches,  they  exclaimed, 

*  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  68. 
t  Ibid.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  137. 


100  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

dispute  about  the  possession  of  the  country 
already,  though  it  belongs  to  our  great  em- 
peror.'5* In  consequence  of  this  affair,  seve- 
ral Chinese  converts  were  treated  with  great 
severity.  Thirteen  were -banished  to  Tartary, 
two  of  whom  were  members  of  the  imperial 
family.  Three  were  condemned  to  wear  the 
cangue  for  life,  two  of  whom  soon  died,  but 
Pierre  Tsay  bore  it  for  thirty  years  in  prison, 
and  was  still  alive  in  1835,  when  M.  Monly 
passed  near  Peking.t  Adeodat  was  closely 
imprisoned,  and  great  restrictions  were  laid  on 
the  other  missionaries  in  the  capital.  They 
were  strictly  forbidden  to  make  proselytes, 
and  were  required  to  confine  themselves 
solely  to  their  mathematical  duties.  They 
were  not  even  to  send  letters  out  of  the 
country,  or  receive  communications  from 
abroad  until  they  had  been  translated  into 
Chinese  by  the  members  of  the  Russian  em- 
bassy, which  was  an  effectual  stop  to  their 
correspondence.  They  had  also  been  ob- 
served going  to  the  markets  to  purchase 
medical  herbs,  and  the  Chinese  feigning  to 
believe  that  they  wished  to  use  them  for 
magical  purposes,  commanded  them  to  do  so 
no  morelf 

The  storm  appeared  to  die  away  in  the 
following  year,  aud  the  missionaries  in  the 
provinces,  who  at  first  feared  a  renewal  of 
the  scenes  of  1784,  breathed  more  freely. 

*  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  158. 

t  Ibid.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  152.  Annales,  vol.  x.,  p.  113. 

t  Ibid.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  218. 


ROMAN    CATHOLICS    IN   CHINA.          101 

But  the  tempest  was  still  brewing,  and  the 
calm  was  deceitful.  In  1811,  a  Chinese  priest 
with  letters  to  his  superior  was  arrested  in 
Shensi,  and  the  court,  unable  to  distinguish 
between  the  spiritual  jurisdiction  claimed  by 
the  bishops,  and  the  civil  jurisdiction  of  a 
monarch,  became  still  more  suspicious.  The 
missionaries  at  Peking  found  themselves  so 
uncomfortably  situated,  that  all  but  four  de- 
cided to  leave  the  city  and  abandon  China. 
Their  departure  was  viewed  with  satisfaction 
by  the  Chinese,  and  no  new  ones  have  been 
allowed  to  go  there.  In  1833,  the  bishop  of 
Nanking,  who  had  never  been  allowed  to 
repair  to  his  diocese,  was  the  only  foreign 
priest  in  the  capital,  and  he  was  allowed  to 
remain  only  on  account  of  age  and  ill  health. 
Being,  in  fact,  a  prisoner,  he  did  no  mission- 
ary work,  and  since  his  decease  no  foreign 
priests  have  resided  there.* 

In  the  midst  of  these  changes,  the  mission 
in  Sz'chuen  was  still  prospering.  jB'or'  seve- 
ral years  there  wer&  but  four  Europeans  in 
the  three  province's,  but  the  fmniter  of  native 
priests  gradually  4acr£afeed;,  and  thtnt  aftatis 
were  perhaps  never  more  prosperous  than 
from  1801  to  1810.  The  mission  suffered  a 
severe  loss  in  1812,  in  the  death  of  Hamel. 
He  had  spent  thirty-six  years  in  Sz'chuen, 
most  of  the  time  as  superior  of  the  little  col- 
lege at  Loyang  kiu  on  the  borders  of  that 
province.  He  had  educated  twenty-seven 

*  Annales,  vol.  ix.,  p.  270. 


102  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

priests  for  the  mission,  and  so  great  was  the 
veneration  in  which  he  was  held  by  the  con- 
verts, that  they  insisted  on  giving  him  a  pub- 
lic funeral,  and  erecting  a  monument  to  his 
memory.  This  was  done  without  the  know- 
ledge or  consent  of  the  prudent  Dufresse,  who 
feared  that  such  a  display  would  only  en- 
danger the  peace  of  the  churches.*  Yet  at 
that  time  there  was  not  the  sign  of  danger. 
M.  Dufresse  writing  in  1813  says,  "we  en- 
joy a  peace  and  tranquillity  more  profound 
than  ever.  'Post  tempestatem,  tranquillum 
fads.9  The  government  is  fatigued  with 
efforts  to  destroy  Christianity,  and  it  almost 
seems  as  though  religion  were  expressly  tole- 
rated."* How  shortsighted  are  the  best  of 
men.  In  1814,  the  tempest  broke  out  with 
greater  fury  than  ever. 

The  new  governor  of  Sz'chuen  was  a  de- 
clared enemy  of  Christianity,  and  as  soon  as 
he  commenced  his  government,  he  began  a 
series^ pf  persecutions, -whose  effects  are  felt 
to  the -present  time.  Almost  the  first  notice 
of. 4he;comii7g.s£or;m.was  given  by  a  crowd 
of  'officers- acd'attendajits  destroying  the  col- 
lege at  Loyang  kiu.  Florens,  the  bishop  of 
Zela,  at  that  time  in  charge  of  it,  had  barely 
time  to  make  his  escape.  He  retired  to  Tong- 
king,  but  age,  infirmity,  arid  fatigue  over- 
came him,  and  he  died  in  December  of  the 
same  year.  The  college  was  burned,  the 
pupils  dispersed,  the  body  of  M.  Hamel  dis- 

*  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.,  vol.  v.,  p.  32. 


ROMAN    CATHOLICS    IN    CHINA.  103 

interred  and  buried  elsewhere,  and  most  per- 
severing efforts  were  made  to  discover  the 
other  Europeans  in  the  province.  A  Chris- 
tian who  was  seized,  was  put  to  torture,  and 
finding  his  courage  and  fortitude  to  fail,  he 
declared  the  retreat  of  the  bishop  and  con- 
ducted the  officers  there.  On  arriving,  he 
made  his  excuses  to  the  prelate,  declaring  it 
much  against  his  will  that  he  had  betrayed 
him.  The  latter  contented  himself  with 
saying,  "If  you  chose  to  deliver  me  up, 
you  should  at  least  have  sought  opportunity 
to  do  so  without  endangering  those  who 
entertain  me."  He  was  at  once  led  away, 
and  treated  with  much  civility,  though  kept 
in  close  confinement  for  several  months.  On 
the  fourteenth  of  September  he  was  brought 
before  the  viceroy  at  the  capital,  and  by  him 
condemned  to  be  beheaded  the  same  day. 
The  venerable  bishop  was  taken  to  the  ex- 
ecution ground,  and  several  Christians  in 
chains  brought  thither,  and  threatened  with 
the  same  fate,  if  they  did  not  apostatize.  But 
when  they  saw  their  bishop,  they  fell  on 
their  knees,  professing  their  readiness  to  die 
with  him,  and  beseeching  his  blessing.  He 
gave  it  with  a  cheerful  air,  and  stretching 
his  neck  towards  the  executioner,  was  be- 
headed at  a  single  stroke.  His  head  was 
exposed  in  a  cage  for  several  days,  first  at 
the  capital,  and  then  at  Kiung  chau  and 
Tsungkin  chau,  where  the  Christians  were 
most  numerous.*  This  execution  of  a  con- 

Nouv.  Lett.  JEdif.,  vol.  v.,  p.  160. 


104  THE    LAND    OP    SINIM. 

demned  person,  on  the  day  his  sentence  was 
pronounced,  was  illegal,  but  the  emperor 
highly  approved  of  the  course  of  the  vice- 
roy, and  declared  in  a  public  edict  that  as  M. 
Dufresse  had  audaciously  returned  to  the 
country,  after  the  emperor's  clemency  had 
granted  him  life  on  condition  of  leaving  it 
for  ever,  he  suffered  only  the  just  penalty  of 
his  crime. 

As  might  be  supposed,  the  martyrdom  of  so 
distinguished  and  worthy  a  prelate,  excited 
no  little  sensation  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
church  in  other  lands.  The  pope  pronounced 
a  solemn  address  in  which  he  declared  him- 
self "reminded  of  the  days  of  primitive 
Christianity;'9  and  to  honour  his  memory 
five  new  cardinals  were  consecrated.* 

The  persecution  did  not  cease  on  the  death 
of  Dufresse.  Its  violence  was  rather  in- 
creased. Multitudes  of  Christians  were  tor- 
tured and  imprisoned,  and  though  many 
apostatized,  yet  many  continued  firm.  It 
was  against  the  native  priests  that  the  chief 
rage  of  the  persecutors  was  directed,  and  in 
four  years,  ten  of  them  were  either  put  to 
death  or  died  in  consequence  of  tortures. 
The  storm  extended  to  other  provinces.  In 
1816,  M.  Triora  was  strangled  in  Hukwdng, 
and  in  1819,  M.  Clet,  after  thirty  years  of 
labour  in  China,  suffered  the  same  fate  in 
the  capital  of  the  same  province.! 

In  these  troublous  times  religion  could 

*  Annales,  vol.  i.,  No.  4,  p.  59. 
t  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.,  vol.  v.,  p.  205. 


ROMAN    CATHOLICS    IN    CHINA.  105 

make  but  little  progress.  The  churches  of 
Sz'chuen  were  deprived  of  both  their  bish- 
ops, and  for  six  years  Escodeca  and  Fon- 
tana,  were  the  only  Europeans  in  the  three 
provinces.  Their  flocks  were  scattered:  the 
native  priests  were  alarmed  and  dispersed, 
arid  themselves  obliged  to  lie  concealed,  or  to 
move  with  the  utmost  caution.  But  the  perse- 
cution gradually  died  away,  and  cheered  and 
strengthened  by  the  arrival  of  new  labour- 
ers, they  recommenced  their  work.  In  1822, 
M.  Perocheau,  titular  bishop  of  Maxula,  ar- 
rived, and  immediately  consecrated  Fontana 
who  had  previously  been  nominated  bishop 
of  Sinite,  and  apostolic  vicar  of  Sz'chuen. 
The  seminary  was  recommenced  in  1824,* 
and  from  that  time  they  have  gone  on  with 
much  quietness.  The  persecutions  have  been 
few  and  unimportant,  and  they  are  well  sup- 
plied with  foreign  and  native  priests.  In 
1839,  there  were  in  Sz'chuen  two  bishops, 
nine  other  European  and  thirty  native  priests, 
but  the  number  of  converts  has  not  increased 
in  the  same  proportion.  During  the  admin- 
istrations of  Dedier  and  Dufresse  (1792  to 
1815),  the  number  of  adults  baptized  was 
from  eight  hundred  to  two  thousand  annu- 
ally, but  for  the  last  twenty  years,  it  has  sel- 
dom exceeded  three  hundred.  The  whole 
number  of  Christians  in  1839  was  computed 
at  fifty-two  thousand.!  There  were  two  col- 
leges to  educate  native  priests,  but  as  it  was 

*  Annales,  vol.  i.,  p.  68,  vol.  ii.,  p.  255. 
t  Annales,  June  1839. 
10 


106 


THE    LAND    OP    SINIM. 


considered  unsafe  to  collect  many  pupils 
in  one  place,  the  whole  number  was  but 
eighteen.*  There  were  also  fifty  schools 
for  boys,  and  eighty  for  girls,  and  about  five 
hundred  persons  who  had  devoted  them- 
selves to  a  life  of  celibacy  and  prayer. 

Our  information  of  the  present  state  of 
Roman  Catholic  missions  in  China,  is  not 
very  definite.  The  following  table  compiled 
from  the  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la 
Foi,  for  June,  1839,  gives  their  numbers  at 
that  time. 


Provinces. 


Bishops.    Priests.    Native  priests.    Converts. 


Kwdngtung,  Kwangsi, 
Honan,  Kiangnan, 
Chihli,  Shantung, 
Chekiang,  Kiangsi, 
Shansi,  Hiikwang, 
Fukien,  Formosa, 
Sz'clmen, 


30 

? 

? 

? 
15 

9 
30 


52,000 
40,000 
50,000 
9,000 
60,000 
40,000 
52,000 


Totals,       8        57  114          303,000 

(*  In  these  provinces  there  are  twenty-four  European, 
and  thirty  native  priests,  of  the  order  of  the  Lazarists,  but 
their  precise  location  is  not  given.) 

Since  the  conclusion  of  the  war  between 
England  and  China,  arid  the  opening  of  the 
new  ports,  additional  facilities  have  been 
enjoyed  for  entering  the  country,  and  a  con- 
siderable number  of  missionaries  has  been 
added  to  those  in  the  above  enumeration. 

Before  closing  this  sketch  of  Roman  Catho- 
lic missions  in  China,  we  add  some  remarks 
that  have  suggested  themselves,  while  pre- 


Annales,  vol.  ix.,  p.  453. 


ROMAN    CATHOLICS    IN    CHINA.  107 

paring  it.  From  this  we  would  willingly  be 
excused,  for  it  is  always  unpleasant  to  blame 
where  there  is  much  to  praise. 

In  reading  these  accounts  of  Roman  Catho- 
lic missions  in  Sz'chuen  and  elsewhere,  we 
have  constantly  felt  the  want  of  testimony 
from  other  sources.  They  tell  their  own 
story,  and  we  have  no  other  witnesses  to 
confirm  or  qualify  what  they  relate.  Even 
where  there  is  no  intention  to  mislead,  poor 
human  nature  always  tells  its  own  tale  in 
the  best  manner,  and  easily  passes  unfavour- 
able truths  in  silence.  But  we  fear  that  a 
graver  charge  than  this  must  be  made.  The 
Roman  Catholic  missionaries  in  China  in 
former  times  were  not  famed  for  an  over- 
strict  adherence  to  the  truth  in  the  accounts 
either  of  their  own  success,  or  of  the  words 
and  actions  of  their  opposers,  and  unchari- 
table though  it  may  seem,  we  ask,  are  all 
these  wonderful  accounts  we  now  hear  strictly 
true?  Until  additional  testimony  be  brought 
we  must  withhold  belief,  at  least  in  part. 
Before  this  remark  is  charged  to  prejudice, 
let  the  following  paragraph  from  a  Roman 
Catholic  missionary,  now  in  Sz'chuen,  be 
attentively  considered.  It  is  extracted  from 
a  letter  written  December  30th,  1834,  and 
signed  "Papiri,  apostolic  missionary." 

After  mentioning  his  arrival  at  Malacca 
the  writer  adds,  "  we  visited  the  famous  An- 
glochinese  college  there,  which  the  Protest- 
ants have  erected  at  enormous  expense ;  this 
establishment  so  much  vaunted  in  Europe, 


108  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

is  remarkable  only  for  its  luxury.  Pompous 
inscriptions  sacred  and  profane  cover  the 
walls  within  and  without;  but  that  is  all. 
The  school  is  composed  of  hardly  a  dozen  of 
children  picked  up  in  the  streets  of  Malacca, 
and  instructed  in  English,  and  even  these 
they  pay  in  order  to  secure  their  attendance. 
They  have  also  established  a  Chinese  and 
Malay  printing-press.  The  Protestant  min- 
ister who  governs  this  pretended  college  re- 
ceived us  with  politeness.  Having  learned 
that  the  Chinese  grammar  of  Premare  had 
been  printed  there,  we  wished  to  procure  a 
copy,  but  when  we  asked  for  it  under  that 
name,  the  minister  appeared  astonished.  He 
had  never  known  of  the  existence  of  Premare, 
nor  that  he  was  the  author  of  the  grammar, 
for  although  their  work  is  nothing  but  a  lite- 
ral translation  of  the  work  of  the  celebrated 
Jesuit,  the  translator  has  modestly  attributed 
all  the  merit  of  it  to  himself.  It  was  thus 
also  that  the  late  minister  Morrison  of  Can- 
ton, after  having  procured  the  Chinese  dic- 
tionary of  Basil,  and  caused  it  to  be  printed, 
announced  himself  to  the  learned  world  as 
its  author."* 

*  See  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  torn.  viii. 
p.  585.  To  avoid  every  suspicion  of  mistranslation,  we 
give  the  original — verbatim,  et  literatim  et  punctuatim. 
"  En  passant  par  Malaca  nous  visitames  le  fameux  college 
Anglochinois,  que  les  Protestants  y  ont  fait  eriger  a  frais 
immenses.  Get  etablissement,  qu'on  vante  tant  en  Europe, 
n'est  vraiment  remarkable  que  par  son  luxe:  des  fasteuses 
inscriptions  sacrees  et  profanes  couvrent  les  murs  inte- 
rieurs  et  exterieurs  du  batiment ;  mais  c'est  tout.  L'ecole 


ROMAN    CATHOLICS    IN    CHINA.  109 

We  shall  be  readily  excused  from  speak- 
ing of  this  paragraph,  and  its  author  in  the 
terms  they  deserve.  To  say  nothing  of  the 
paltry  effort  to  rob  Dr.  Morrison  of  the  just 
renown  acquired  by  his  dictionary,  we  re- 
mark, 1.  No  translation  of  Premare  has  yet 
been  published,  either  at  Malacca  or  else- 
where; nor  has  any  Protestant  assumed  to 
himself  the  authorship  either  of  the  gram- 
mar, or  of  a  translation  of  it.  2.  The  gram- 
mar of  Premare  was  published  at  Malacca 
in  1831,  three  years  previous  to  the  visit  of 
M.  Papin,  with  the  name  of  the  author  ou 
the  title  page.  It  was  published  in  Latin 
from  a  copy  of  the  original  by  the  care  and 
at  the  expense  of  English  Protestants,  and 
all  due  honour  was  given  by  them  to  the 
author,  while  his  own  countrymen  and  co- 
religionists suffered  it  to  remain  in  manu- 
script in  the  Royal  Library  at  Paris.  3.  That 

ne  se  compose  que  (Tune  douzaine  d'enfants  chinois  ra- 
masses  dans  les  rues  de  Malaca,  auxquels  on  enseigne 
1' Anglais,  et  qu'on  est  oblige  de  payer,  pour  les  engager 
a  la  frequenter.  On  y  a  aussi  etabli  une  presse  Chinoise 
at  Malaise.  Le  ministre  protestant  qui  dirige  ce  pretendu 
college,  nous  recut  avec  politesse.  Ayant  appris  qu'on  y 
avait  fait  imprimer  la  grammaire  Chinoise  du  P.  Premare, 
nous  desirames  nous  en  procurer  un  exemplaire :  mais 
lorsque  nous  la  demandames  au  ministre  sous  ce  nom,  il 
parut  etonne,  n'ayant  jamais  su  qu'il  cut  existe  un  P. 
Premare,  ni  qu'il  fut  1'auteur  de  cette  grammaire:  car 
quoique  celle  ci  ne  soit  qu'une  traduction  literale  de  celle 
du  ce  celebre  Jesuit,  le  Traducteur  s'en  est  modestement 
attribue  tout  le  merite.  C'est  ainsi,  que  feu  le  ministre 
Morrison,  de  Canton,  apres  s'etre  procure  le  dictionnaire 
de  P.  Basile,  et  1'avoir  fait  imprimer,  s'annonca  au  monde 
savant  comme  en  etant  lui-meme  1'auteur. 


110  THE    LAND    OF    SIMM. 

Mr.  Evans,  at  that  time  in  charge  of  the 
Anglochinese  college,  could  have  been  igno- 
rant of  the  existence  of  Premare,  or  of  his 
being  the  author  of  the  grammar,  passes 
belief.  "  Credat  Judseus  Appella,  non  ego." 
With  these  remarks  we  dismiss  M.  Papin. 
Should  the  editor  of  the  Annales  ever  see 
this  work,  we  would  ask  him  how  he  could 
suffer  such  a  letter  as  that  just  quoted  to  ap- 
pear in  its  pages,  with  his  express  sanction,* 
and  send  it  forth  to  the  readers  of  the  eighty 
thousand  copies  of  the  Annales  then  circula- 
ted, without  correcting  what  he  must  have 
known  to  be  false?  It  might  have  been 
called  an  oversight  had  but  one  fact  been 
erroneously  stated,  but  when  a  series  of 
charges  implicating  the  moral  character  of 
different  persons  are  strung  together,  it  is  too 
much  to  ask  us  to  attribute  all  to  careless- 
ness or  want  of  design.  With  such  an  ex- 
ample of  veracity,  we  shall  be  pardoned  if 
we  ask  for  additional  testimony  before  we 
believe  all  that  is  recorded  by  men  who  sign 
themselves  « apostolic  missionaries,"  and 
sanctioned  by  the  editors  of  the  journals  in 
which  avec  approbation  des  superieurs,  their 
letters  are  published. 

In  reading  these  accounts  the  attention  is 
painfully  arrested  by  many  things  that  recall 
the  pious  frauds,  and  the  doing  evil  that 
good  may  come,  which  have  been  witnessed 
in  the  Roman  Catholic  churches  of  other 

*  See  "Annales,"  loc.  cit. 


ROMAN   CATHOLICS    IN    CHINA.  Ill 

lands.  In  all  their  letters  nothing  is  referred 
to  and  boasted  of  so  often  as  the  baptism  of 
the  dying  children  of  heathen  parents.  Be- 
lieving as  we  do,  that  all  infants  dying  before 
they  come  to  years  of  discretion  are  saved 
by  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  we  do  not  at- 
tribute much  importance  to  the  baptizing  of 
thousands  and  tens  of  thousands.  But  were 
it  as  profitable  and  meritorious  as  they  pro- 
fess to  consider  it,  the  question  might  well 
be  asked  whether  baptism  by  laymen  and 
women  could  be  considered  valid  ?  And 
even  granting  this,  (which  we  do  not  grant,) 
it  would  still  be  a  question  whether  baptism 
performed  by  stealth  and  under  feigned  pre- 
tences could  be  counted  valid?  Such  is  the 
baptism  of  ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred 
of  which  they  boast.  Even  the  excellent 
Dufresse  tells  us,  that  "the  women  who 
baptize  the  infants  of  heathen  parents  an- 
nounce themselves  as  consecrated  to  the 
healing  of  infants,  and  to  give  remedies 
gratis  that  they  may  satisfy  the  vow  of  their 
father  who  has  commanded  this  as  an  act  of 
charity."*  M.  Verolles  in  1835,  describing 
the  manner  in  which  so  many  baptisms  are 
performed,  writes,  "  It  is  done  by  women  of 
a  certain  age,  who  have  experience  in  the 
treatment  of  infantile  diseases.  Furnished 
with  innocent  pills,  and  a  bottle  of  holy 
water,  whose  virtues  they  extol,  they  intro- 
duce themselves  into  the  houses  where  there 

*  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.,  vol.  v.,  p.  52. 


112  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

are  sick  infants,  and  discover  whether  they  are 
in  danger  of  death;  in  this  case  they  inform 
the  parents,  and  tell  them  that  before  admin- 
istering other  remedies,  they  must  wash  their 
foreheads  with  the  purifying  waters  of  their 
bottle.  The  parents,  not  suspecting  this 
"  pieuse  rule,"  readily  consent,  and  by  these 
innocent  frauds  we  procure  in  our  mission 
the  baptism  of  seven  or  eight  thousand  in- 
fants every  year.  0  what  a  conquest!  What 
glory  is  this  to  our  divine  Master!"*  We 
have  already  referred  to  their  frequent  break- 
ing of  espousals,  which  in  China  are  almost 
as  binding  as  marriage  itself,  and  to  the 
bishop  of  Caradre's  justifying  a  /ze,.when 
the  parents  could  find  no  other  means  to  ac- 
complish their  object. 

These  letters  speak  much  of  relics  and 
rites  and  miracles.  Many  pages  might  be 
filled  with  the  signs  and  wonders  they  nar- 
rate, but  our  readers  will  be  satisfied  with  a 
few  specimens.  M.  Gleyo,  writing  (from 
Sz'chuen  in  1767,  says,  "This  country  is 
filled  with  superstitions,  and  has  many  sor- 
cerers, diviners,  &c.  Many  narrations  equally 
curious  and  certain  are  related  showing  the 
tyranny  exercised  by  the  devil  in  these  un- 
fortunate regions.  It  frequently  happens  that 
pagans  become  Christians  solely  to  escape 
the  cruel  vexations  of  the  devil  to  which 
they  see  that  the  Christians  are  not  subject. 
It  is  but  four  months  since  a  man  was  con- 

*  Annales,  vol.  ix,,  p.  456. 


ROMAN   CATHOLICS    IN    CHINA.  113 

verted  in  this  neighbourhood.  He  declared 
in  presence  of  an  assembly  of  Christians 
weeping  with  joy  and  gratitude  on  his  be- 
half, that  when  he  was  on  the  point  of  giving 
himself  to  God,  seven  devils  appeared  in  his 
chamber  one  evening  to  intimidate  him,  and 
made  many  reproaches  and  menaces  for  his 
hardihood  in  wishing  to  abandon  their  ser- 
vice. Remembering  the  sign  of  the  cross,  he 
made  it.  Immediately  the  devils  fled  away, 
and  with  so  much  precipitation,  that  they 
broke  down  the  door  of  his  house  in  their 
haste  to  escape.  There  are  many  other  ac- 
counts even  more  striking  and  interesting, 
but  it  is  prudent  not  to  mention  them  on 
account  of  the  fastidiousness  of  some  per- 
sons who  do  not  enjoy  such  anecdotes."* 

Daring  the  administration  of  Dufresse,  we 
hear  almost  nothing  of  such  tales,  but  speed- 
ily after  his  death  we  are  regaled  with  the 
following  account  of  "  a  miracle  performed 
by  the  bishop  Maxula,"  in  1821.  «  Mgr.  de 
Maxula  was  giving  the  confirmation  in  a 
little  church ;  at  the  moment  of  the  imposition 
of  hands,  the  church  appeared  filled  with 
fire.  The  people  were  so  much  alarmed 
that  they  fled  out  of  the  church,  and  could 
be  induced  to  return  only  when  reassured  by 
the  bishop.  I  could  scarce  believe  it,  but 
everything  is  possible  to  a  man  who  passes 

*  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.,  vol.  i.,  p.  39.  Those  who  "do  enjoy 
such  anecdotes,"  will  find  them  in  abundance,  in  the  Let- 
tres,  vol.  i.,  pp.  136-151,  292,  vol.  iii.,  pp.  56,  73-75,  &c. 


114  THE    LAND   OF    SINIM. 

for  a  saint  in  every  place,  even  among  here- 
tics and  heathen. "* 

But  enough  of  these:  although  we  believe 
the  age  of  miracles  has  passed  away?  yet  we 
have  no  objection  to  believe  that  they  may 
occur  again.  But  let  them  be  better  authen- 
ticated than  any  we  have  seen  in  the  Edify- 
ing Letters,  or  the  Annals  of  the  propagation 
of  the  faith. 

The  point  on  which  we  have  been  most 
desirous  of  information,  and  regard  as  the 
most  important,  is  that  on  which  we  have 
obtained  the  least  satisfaction.  The  great 
complaint  against  the  Jesuits  in  China  was 
that  they  confounded  the  distinctions  between 
Christianity  and  the  worship  of  the  Chinese, 
and  allowed  their  converts  to  retain  many  of 
their  ancient  superstitious  customs:  that  in 
fact  they  merely  baptized  the  Chinese  re- 
ligion, and  suffered  its  most  objectionable 
features  to  remain.  We  have  been  anxious 
to  find  whether  the  modern  Chinese  converts 
are  more  sensible  of  the  difference  between 
Christianity  and  paganism,  whether  they 
understand  the  character  of  Christ,  ancl 
whether  they  have  added  to  their  faith 
virtue,  and  to  virtue  knowledge.  But  on 
these  points  we  are  left  to  the  most  unsatis- 
factory inferences. 

The  letters  abound  in  declamations  about 
the  zeal  of  the  new  converts,  and  their  devo- 
tion, especially  to  the  holy  mother,  about 

*  Annales,  vol.  i.,  No.  4,  p.  21. 


ROMAN    CATHOLICS    IN    CHINA.          115 

their  fervour  in  the  performance  of  the  cere- 
monies of  the  church,  and  various  similar 
eulogies,  but  what  does  all  this  amount  to  ? 
What  do  they  know  of  the  God  they  pro- 
fess to  worship?  Even  the  educated  Chinese 
are  profoundly  ignorant  of  the  character  of 
their  Creator,  they  constantly  confound  the 
Supreme  Ruler  with  the  visible  heavens,  and 
need  much  and  long  continued  instruction 
before  they  can  rightly  know  him.  How- 
much  more  ignorant  are  the  peasantry  and 
common  labourers  from  whom  the  mass  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  converts  are  made.  It 
is  no  reproach  that  their  converts  are  from 
that  class,  for  "to  the  poor  the  gospel  is 
preached,"  and  "of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven."  Nor  are  we  so  unreasonable  as 
to  require  of  any  converted  pagan  the  same 
degree  of  illumination  that  would  be  neces- 
sary in  a  Christian  land.  But  still  there  are 
limits  below  which  ignorance  is  incompatible 
with  salvation,  there  are  boundaries  which 
separate  Christianity  from  idolatry.  We  have 
a  right  to  expect  where  there  is  zeal  that  it 
be  "  according  to  knowledge/'  otherwise  we 
cannot  praise  it. 

With  the  few  labourers  employed  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  missions  in  China,  their 
numerous  converts  can  be  but  very  imper- 
fectly instructed.  One  of  their  most  zealous 
missionaries,  after  enumerating  the  native 
and  foreign  labourers,  writes,  "It  is  abso- 
lutely impossible,  considering  the  dispersion 
of  the  people,  and  scarcity  of  missionaries, 


116  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

to  visit  each  place  frequently  and  instruct  the 
people  well.  It  is  much  when  a  missionary 
can  visit  each  of  his  congregations  twice  in 
a  year,  many  can  be  visited  but  once,  and 
some  only  once  in  two  years."*  This  was 
written  sixty  years  ago,  but  it  as  true  now 
as  it  was  then;  it  has  always  been  a  correct 
description  of  the  state  of  things  in  Sz'chuen 
and  elsewhere.  How  can  converts  so  seldom 
visited  be  well  instructed?  What  would  be- 
come of  our  churches  in  Christian  lands  with 
only  such  opportunities?  Well  may  we  ex- 
claim, "a  miracle!"  when  told  that  such 
persons  are  zealous,  sincere,  and  upright 
Christians.  We  are  still  more  astonished, 
when  we  read  such  a  sentence  as  this:  "The 
missionaries  tell  us,  that  being  forced,  in  three 
or  four  months  after  their  arrival,  to  preach 
when  they  do  not  know  the  language  suf- 
ficiently either  to  be  understood,  or  to  under- 
stand themselves,  they  have  seen  their  audi- 
tors immediately  embrace  Christianity."! — 
What  kind  of  Christianity  is  this?  The  simi- 
larity between  the  Chinese  forms  of  worship 
and  those  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church  has 
often  been  remarked,  and  it  may  be  supposed, 
without  any  violation  of  charity,  that  many 
of  these  uninstructed  converts  have  merely 
substituted  one  form  of  idolatrous  worship  for 
another.  They  take  away  the  idolatrous  tab- 
let on  which  they  have  written  the  words 
shin,  god  or  spirit,  and  before  which  they 

*  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.,  vol.  i.,  p.  348. 
t  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  pref.  p.  vi. 


ROMAN    CATHOLICS    IN    CHINA.  117 

have  burned  incense,  and  substitute  another 
of  similar  shape  and  size  on  which  they  have 
written  shin,  chin  chu,  tsdu  tien  jin  with, 
i.  e.  "God,  true  Lord,  Creator  of  heaven, 
earth,  man,  and  all  things."*  They  cease  to 
venerate  Chinese  heroes,  and  bow  down  be- 
fore Christian  saints,  of  whom  they  know  still 
less,  and  whose  names  they  cannot  pronounce. 
They  cease  to  venerate  Tien  hau,  shing  mil 
Mdtsu  po,  "  the  Queen  of  heaven,  holy  mo- 
ther Matsu  po,"  and  pay  their  adorations  to 
Tien  hau,  shing  mu  Ma-li-ya,  "the  Queen 
of  Heaven,  Holy  mother  Mary:"  but  what 
do  they  know  of  the  difference  between  these 
two  forms  of  religion  ?  Their  heathen  neigh- 
bours see  them  perform  their  worship,  and 
while  they  admire  their  ceremonies  and  their 
songs,  they  say,  "the  Christians  have  a  god- 
dess whom  they  worship,  they  call  her  the 
holy  mother."! 

There  is  nothing  in  the  letters  of  the  mis- 
sionaries in  Sz'chuen  to  enable  us  to  judge 
of  the  knowledge  of  the  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity possessed  by  their  converts,  but  per- 
haps we  may  form  some  idea  of  it  by  com- 
paring it  with  that  of  their  converts  in  India, 
where  perfect  liberty  is  enjoyed,  and  their 
missionaries  meet  no  hinderance  in  instruct- 
ing them  as  fully  as  they  desire.  The  Abbe 
Dubois,  "apostolic  missionary"  in  Mysore,  in 
some  letters  to  his  superiors  in  France,  gives 
the  following  anecdotes.  "  I  was  preaching 

*  Nouv.  Lett.  Edif.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  136. 
t  Chinese  Repository,  vol.  xii.,  p.  525. 


118  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

twenty-eight  years  ago  in  Tamnl,  to  a  congre- 
gation composed  entirely  of  native  Christians, 
and  repeated  several  times  that  the  founder 
of  the  Christian  religion  was  a  poor  peasant 
in  Gallilee,  the  son  of  a  carpenter,  and  his 
apostles  were  twelve  fishermen.  These  words, 
son  of  a  carpenter,  and  twelve,  fishermen, 
offended  my  hearers,  and  no  sooner  was  the 
sermon  finished  than  three  or  four  of  the 
principal  of  them  came  to  me  in  a  very  bad 
humour,  to  inform  me  that  the  congregation 
was  scandalized  by  rny  giving  to  Christ  the 
appellation  of  a  carpenter,  and  to  his  apos- 
tles that  of  fishermen,  because  the  carpen- 
ters and  fishers  belong  to  the  most  despised 
caste  in  the  country.  Finally  they  counselled 
me,  that  whenever  I  should  have  occasion  to 
speak  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  I  should  not 
fail  to  say  that  they  were  born  in  the  tribe  of 
the  Kshatryas  or  Kings,  and  never  to  men- 
tion their  humble  occupations."  Verily,  these 
Christians  seem  to  have  known  but  little  of 
Him,  who  though  he  was  in  the  form  of 
God,  humbled  himself  and  made  himself 
of  no  reputution  for  us;  who,  though  he  was 
rich,  for  our  sakes  became  poor.  Nor  does 
it  appear  from  the  account  of  M.  Dubois  that 
he  took  any  pains  to  correct  the  notions  of 
his  hearers.  The  same  gentleman  about  the 
same  time  writes,  "  I  have  at  present  under 
my  charge  seven  or  eight  thousand  Chris- 
tians, and  I  should  be  really  embarrassed,  if 
out  of  them  all,  I  had  to  choose  four  men 
capable  of  comprehending  the  Bibie;  or  to 


ROMAN    CATHOLICS    IN    CHINA.  119 

whom  the  naked  text  of  the  Scriptures  could 
be  of  the  least  utility.  I  have  composed  for 
the  instruction  of  my  numerous  flock  a  little 
catechism,  containing  ten  or  twelve  pages, 
in  which  the  principal  truths  of  Christianity 
are  explained.  This  little  work  is  written  in 
the  most  simple  and  perspicuous  manner,  and 
to  render  it  more  intelligible,  I  have  explained 
it  several  times  to  my  congregations,  and  yet 
after  all  this  labour,  I  find  that  the  great  ma- 
jority of  my  Christians  do  not  understand 
it."*  Well  might  the  Abbe  call  them  MY 
Christians,  for  had  these  men  been  taught 
of  God,  and  possessed  the  unction  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  they  would  have  understood 
better.t  If  amidst  the  quiet  and  uninter- 
rupted labours  of  the  Roman  Catholic  mis- 
sionaries in  India,  such  ignorance  prevails, 
what  must  be  the  case  in  China  where  all 
instruction  is  given  by  stealth,  and  in  con- 
stant fear  of  detection? 

It  is  hard  to  say  what  is  the  least  amount 
of  knowledge  required  in  one  who  possesses 
true  faith  in  Christ,  and  still  harder  to  say 
how  much  of  superstition  and  error  may 
exist  in  the  heart  without  destroying  all  claim 
to  the  character  of  a  true  Christian.  We  are 
willing  to  believe  that  good  has  been  done, 
and  is  now  done  by  the  Roman  Catholic  mis- 
sionaries in  China.  We  cannot  think  that 
such  a  man  as  Dtifresse,  so  pure,  so  fervent, 
so  spiritual,  could  labour  for  a  series  of  years 

*  Annales,  vol.  iii.,  pp.  13-18. 
1 1  Cor.  ii.  15.    1  John,  ii.  21, 


120  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

in  any  place  without  accomplishing,  we 
would  fain  hope,  much  that  may  abide  the 
trial  of  the  last  great  day.  With  this  belief 
we  look  upon  their  labours,  during  late  years, 
as  having  done  something  to  accomplish  the 
prophecy  of  Isaiah.  Of  some  of  their  con- 
verts, it  may  doubtless  be  truly*said,  "Behold 
these  from  the  land  of  Sinim" 

Yet  in  making  this  declaration,  which  we 
do  with  pleasure,  let  it  not  be  supposed  that 
we  approve  of  the  general  policy  or  doc- 
trines of  the  Roman  Catholic  church.  We 
glory  in  the  name  of  Protestant;  and  while 
rejoicing  in  the  good  which  the  Roman  Catho- 
lics may  have  accomplished  in  China,  we  do 
not  the  less  emphatically  protest  against  the 
errors  that  mark  their  course,  even  here. 
We  protest  against  the  profusion  of  uncom- 
manded  ceremonies;  the  reliance  upon  sacra- 
ments and  not  on  grace;  the  withholding  of 
the  Scriptures,  and  the  mutilation  of  the  com- 
mandments; the  worship  of  the  saints  and 
of  the  Virgin  Mary;  the  abominations  of  the 
confessional;  and  the  tyranny  over  the  con- 
science; which  here,  as  everywhere  else,  are 
among  their  distinguishing  characteristics. 


121 


CHAPTER  V. 

PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  CHINA. 

A  SKETCH  of  the  progressive  fulfilment  of 
the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  respecting  the  land  of 
Sinim,  would  be  incomplete  without  some 
notice  of  the  efforts  of  Protestant  churches  to 
spread  the  gospel  in  China.  These  efforts, 
however,  are  all  too  recent  to  allow  of  much 
development,  and  as  many  of  the  first  actors 
are  still  living,  it  is  difficult  to  give  full  ac- 
counts or  accurate  estimates  of  their  labours. 
We  shall  leave  it  to  them  respectively  to  give 
fuller  details  than  can  now  be  done.  A  short 
statement  of  facts  and  a  view  of  some  of  the 
principles  on  which  Protestant  missions  are 
conducted,  will  form  the  conclusion  to  an 
article  already  extended  beyond  the  limits  at 
first  designed. 

Comparatively  little  was  done  by  the  Pro- 
testant churches  in  sending  missionaries  to 
the  heathen,  until  within  the  last  sixty  years; 
and  a  combination  of  circumstances  prevented 
any  direct  efforts  being  made  in  China,  until 
after  the  commencement  of  the  present  cen- 
tury. Several  of  the  Baptist  missionaries  in 
India,  directed  their  attention  to  the  acquisi- 
tion of  the  Chinese  language,  in  the  hope  of 
11 


122  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

thus  communicating  the  gospel  to  this  people. 
Among  these  the  Rev.  J.  Marshman,  D.D.,  was 
honourably  distinguished.  With  the  assist- 
ance of  Mr.  Lassar,  an  Armenian  Christian 
born  in  Macao,  and  speaking  and  writing 
the  Chinese  language  with  fluency,  he  trans- 
lated the  whole  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  into 
Chinese.  This  translation  was  completed  in 
1822,  and  printed  with  metallic  type  in  Se- 
rampore.*.  Of  the  extent  of  the  circulation 
of  this  version  we  are  not  informed.  It  is 
well  spoken  of  for  clearness  and  general  ac- 
curacy, though  like  all  first  efforts,  it  does  not 
profess  to  be  perfect. 

In  1807,  the  Rev.  Robert  Morrison,  a  mis- 
sionary of  the  London  Missionary  Society, 
arrived  in  Canton.  For  some  time  it  was 
uncertain  whether  he  would  be  allowed  to 
remain,  for  the  Directors  of  the  East  India 
Company  were  but  little  disposed  to  en- 
courage the  labours  of  Protestant  Missiona- 
ries within  the  sphere  of  their  jurisdiction. 
Exercising  great  prudence  and  caution,  he 
was  suffered  to  remain,  and  his  progress  in 
the  acquisition  of  the  language  was  such,  that 
in  1809  he  was  appointed  translator  to  the 
Company.  This  office,  which  secured  him 
an  abundant  support,  and  an  undisturbed 
residence  in  Canton,  he  held  until  the  Com- 
pany's factory  in  China  was  dissolved. 
Much  of  his  time  was  necessarily  given  to 
the  business  of  the  Company,  but  perhaps, 

*  Reports  of  the  Brit,  and  For.  Bib.  Soc.  Chinese  Rep,, 
vol  iv,  p.  252. 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  CHINA.         123 

even  considering  the  great  object  for  which 
he  came,  it  could  not  have  been  more  profit- 
ably employed.  It  is  difficult  for  us  to  ap- 
preciate fully  the  disadvantages  under  which 
he  laboured.  Every  step  of  his  way  he  pre- 
pared for  himself.  There  were  then  neither 
grammars  nor  dictionaries,  and  he  was  with- 
out facilities  for  the  study  of  the  language, 
save  those  afforded  by  a  few  imperfect  and 
expensive  manuscripts  prepared  by  former 
Roman  Catholic  Missionaries. 

For  several  years  Dr.  Morrison  laboured 
alone,  giving  his  time  chiefly  to  the  study  of  the 
language,  and  the  preparation  of  a  grammar 
and  dictionary.  To  this  point  his  attention 
had  been  specially  turned  by  the  Directors 
of  the  Missionary  Society.  "  Perhaps/'  said 
they  in  their  instructions,  "you  may  have 
the  honour  of  forming  a  Chinese  Dictionary, 
more  comprehensive  and  correct  than  any 
preceding  one."  This  expectation  has  been 
fully  realized,  and  the  Dictionary  prepared  by 
Dr.  Morrison  is  still  the  most  valuable  of  all 
the  books  used  by  the  student  of  the  language. 

It  does  not  seem  to  have  been  the  expec- 
tation of  the  Society,  or  of  their  missionary, 
that  he  should  give  much  time  to  the  oral  in- 
struction of  the  Chinese.  The  acquisition  of 
the  language,  the  preparation  of  works  to 
assist  others  in  acquiring  it,  and  especially 
"the  translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  a  lan- 
guage spoken  by  one  third  of  the  human 
race,"  were  the  chief  objects  proposed  by  the 


124  THE  LAND  OF  SINIM. 

Directors  of  the  Society;*  and  to  these  his 
attention  was  for  many  years,  indeed  for  the 
whole  of  his  life,  mainly  directed.  Yet  so 
soon  as  he  became  sufficiently  acquainted 
with  the  language,  he  commenced  holding 
religious  services  with  his  domestics,  and 
with  such  others  of  the  Chinese  as  chose  to 
attend.  These  instructions  were  confined  to 
but  few  persons,  for  the  East  India  Company 
discouraged  all  such  efforts,  and  the  perse- 
cutions against  the  Roman  Catholics,  then 
raging  throughout  the  empire,  rendered  the 
Chinese  averse  to  any  intercourse  with  fo- 
reigners which  might  subject  them  to  diffi- 
culties or  danger.  Yet  his  efforts  were  not 
without  success,  and  the  first  convert,  Tsai 
Ako,  who  was  baptized  in  1814,  proved 
faithful  until  his  death.t 

In  1813,  Dr.  Morrison  was  joined  by  the 
Rev.  W.  Milne,  but  permission  for  the  latter 
to  remain  in  Macao  was  refused  by  the  Por- 
tuguese government  there ;  and  as  Mrs.  Milne 
could  not  reside  in  Canton,  it  became  neces- 
sary for  them  to  seek  another  field  of  labour. 
Many  Chinese  had  emigrated  to  Batavia, 
Borneo,  Malacca,  Penang,  and  Bangkok,  and 
it  was  thought  that  among  these  might  be 
found  opportunities  for  extensive  and  undis- 
turbed operations  of  all  kinds.  This  impres- 
sion being  confirmed  by  an  exploring  voy- 
age made  by  Mr.  Milne,  it  was  arranged 

*  Milne's  Retrospect  of  the  first  ten  years  of  the  Chinese 
Mission,  pp.  52,  58. 

t  Morrison's  Memoirs,  vol.  i.,  p.  408. 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  CHINA.         125 

that  he  should  establish  himself  in  Malacca, 
while  Dr.  Morrison  remained  in  Canton. 
This  was  done  in  1815,*  and  Dr.  Morrison 
was  thus  left  alone  again,  and  so  continued 
until  the  year  1830,  when  missionaries  from 
America  arrived  in  China. 

All  the  English  missionaries  to  the  Chi- 
nese, who  came  between  the  years  1813 
and  1838,  were  located  in  the  Straits,  either 
at  Penang,  Malacca,  Batavia,  or  Singapore. 
The  number  of  Chinese  in  these  places  was 
great;  and  as  many  of  them  returned  to  their 
own  country,  every  year,  favourable  oppor- 
tunities were  thus  presented  for  sending  the 
Scriptures  and  religious  books  where  no 
Protestant  missionaries  could  have  gone. 
Schools  were  also  established  at  the  various 
stations,  and  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  re- 
gularly sustained.  Through  the  efforts  of 
the  missionaries  many  have  been  convinced 
of  the  folly  of  idolatry,  and  a  few  who  gave 
good  evidence  of  a  change  of  heart  were  re- 
ceived into  the  church  by  baptism. 

The  principal  efforts  of  Morrison  and  Milne, 
up  to  the  time  of  the  death  of  the  latter,  in 
1822,  were  directed  to  the  translation  and 
circulation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  the 
preparation  of  works  to  facilitate  the  acquisi- 
tion of  the  language.  The  printing  of  Dr. 
Morrison's  great  Dictionary  was  completed 
in  1823,  and  by  the  joint  labours  of  himself 
and  Dr.  Milne,  the  whole  Bible  was  trans- 

*  Retrospect,  p,  135. 


126  THE  LAND  OF  SINIM. 

slated  in  1819,  and  printed  not  long  after- 
wards.* 

The  labours  of  the  missionaries  in  the 
Straits  were  unremitting,  and  to  some  extent 
successful.  The  number  of  converts  we  are 
not  able  to  state  definitely.  But  the  class  of 
Chinese,  with  which  they  were  brought  into 
contact,  was  one  by  no  means  likely  to  be  in- 
fluenced by  the  truths  of  the  gospel.  They 
were  emigrants  who  had  left  their  native 
land,  some  to  avoid  the  justice  or  the  oppres- 
sions of  their  rulers,  and  most  of  them  for 
gain.  Few  of  them  had  their  families  with 
them;  and  in  their  roving  unsettled  life,  and 
in  many  cases,  cherishing  expectations  of 
returning  to  their  own  land,  but  little  en- 
couragement was  found  for  persevering  ef- 
forts to  instruct  them.  In  consequence  of 
these  disadvantages,  and  attracted  also  by  the 
wider  field  opened  in  China  since  the  signing 
of  the  treaty  of  Nanking,  most  of  the  mis- 
sionaries have  removed  from  the  Straits  to 
China  Proper,  where  their  previous  study  of 
the  language,  and  acquaintance  with  the 
manners  of  the  people,  give  them  great  ad- 
vantages in  prosecuting  their  labours. 

The  first  missionaries  of  the  American 
churches,  were  the  Rev.  Messrs.  E.  C.  Bridg- 
man,  and  D.  Abeel,t  who  arrived  in  1830. 
Both  are  still  labouring  in  China,  and  have 
been  followed  by  additional  labourers  from 
their  own  country.  More  missionaries  have 

*  Morrison's  Memoirs,  vol.  ii.  p.  2. 
[t  The  latter  has  since  returned  to  the  United  States,  in 
impaired  health.] 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  CHINA.         127 

been  sent  to  the  Chinese  since  the  dissolution 
of  the  East  India  Company's  factory  in  1834, 
than  in  all  the  years  that  preceded.  It  would 
seem  that  the  Providence  of  God,  foreseeing 
the  events  about, to  occur,  selected  the  men, 
and  sent  them  to  be  on  the  ground  when  the 
long  closed  doors  should  be  opened.  Conse- 
quently, when  the  treaty  of  Nanking  was 
signed,  by  which  five  ports  in  China  were 
opened  to  foreigners,  there  were  Protestant 
missionaries  ready  to  enter  into  each;  and 
with  the  exception  of  Fuhchau,  which  it  is 
hoped  will  not  long  remain  unsupplied,  there 
are  now  representatives  of  the  Protestant 
churches  of  Christendom  in  all  the  ports  of 
China  to  which  foreigners  have  access. 

The  number  of  Protestant  missionaries  in 
China  is  thirty-one.  This  number  does  not 
include  some  who  are  on  visits  to  their  native 
land,  and  others,  who,  though  labouring  di- 
rectly for  the  Chinese,  are  not  on  Chinese 
soil.  They  are  sent  by  the  London  and 
Church  missionary  societies  in  England,  and 
by  the  societies  in  connexion  with  the 
Congregational,  Presbyterian,  Baptist,  and 
Episcopal  churches  in  America.  Some  of 
those  now  in  China  have  spent  a  large  pro- 
portion of  their  missionary  life  in  the  Straits, 
while  the  greater  part  have  arrived  so  re- 
cently, that  they  have  not  yet  had  time  to 
acquire  the  language.  But  with  the  facilities 
now  enjoyed  in  books,  and  opportunities  for 
access  to  the  people,  the  Chinese  language  is 
by  no  means  so  difficult  to  acquire  as  when 


128  THE  LAND  OF  SINIM. 

Morrison  set  down  alone  to  its  study,  and 
we  cherish  the  hope  that  ere  long  they  will  all 
be  able  to  make  known  to  this  people,  in 
their  own  tongue,  the  wonderful  works  of 
God,  and  the  unsearchable  grace  of  Christ. 

With  this  brief  sketch  of  events,  we  pro- 
pose to  combine  a  short  statement  of  the 
principles  and  present  results  of  Protestant 
missions  in  China. 

The  Protestant  missionary  considers  man- 
kind as  a  race  of  beings  who  have  fallen 
from  their  original  relation  and  allegiance  to 
their  Creator.  By  their  fall  they  have  in- 
curred the  anger  of  a  just  and  Holy  God,  and 
rendered  themselves  obnoxious  to  his  eternal 
displeasure.  But  God  in  mercy  has  provided 
a  way  of  salvation,  and  has  given  command- 
ment that  it  be  preached  to  every  creature, and 
disciples  be  made  in  all  nations  (puSytzvaafs 
Ttavtu  to,  s^i/jj,  Mat.  xxviii.  19.)  The  mis- 
sionary hears  this  command,  and  feels  him- 
self bound  to  obey  it.  He  is  further  induced 
to  this  course,  because  he  takes,  in  their  plain 
and  obvious  meaning,  the  words  of  the  apos- 
tle Peter:  "There  is  salvation  in  no  other, 
for  there  is  no  other  name  under  heaven  given 
among  men,  whereby  we  must  be  saved." 
Acts  iv.  12.  He  also  acknowledges  the  re- 
lationship between  himself  and  the  men  of 
every  nation,  seeing  that  "  God  hath  made  of 
one  blood  all  nations  of  men."  Acts  xvii.  26. 
Considering  therefore  that  the  heathen  are 
connected  with  himself  as  members  of  the 
same  great  family  j  that  they  are  in  danger 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  CHINA.         129 

of  eternal  destruction  from  the  presence  of 
God,  and  cannot  be  saved  without  the  know- 
ledge of  Jesus  Christ,*  he  cheerfully  obeys 
the  command  to  make  known,  among  them, 
the  way  of  life  through  Him. 

The  main  object  therefore  of  the  Protestant 
missionary  is  to  impart  to  the  heathen  the 
knowledge  of  the  true  God,  and  of  Jesus 
Christ,  for  it  is  not  ignorance,  but  knowledge 
which  is  the  mother  of  devotion:  and  by  this 
knowledge  of  God,  he  seeks  to  convert  him 
from  his  idolatry  to  the  true  and  spiritual 
worship  of  his  Creator.  He  has  other  objects 
in  view  of  acknowledged  importance,  but  all 

*  This  is  a  point  on  which  there  is  much  misapprehen- 
sion, and  some  will  consider  the  sentiments  above  expressed 
as  bigoted  and  uncharitable.  Without  entering  into  any 
defence  of  them,  the  writer  would  state  the  views  he  has 
formed.  The  heathen,  who  die  after  they  come  to  years 
of  discretion  without  having  heard  of  Christ,  cannot  be 
saved.  But  they  are  not  condemned  because  they  do  riot 
believe  in  Christ.  It  is  no  crime  not  to  believe  in  him  of 
whom  they  have  not  heard.  They  are  condemned  be- 
cause they  do  not  act  according  to  the  light  of  nature 
which  they  possess;  because,  "  knowing  the  judgment  of 
God,  that  they  which  do  such  things  are  worthy  of  death, 
they  not  only  do  the  same,  but  have  pleasure  in  those  that 
do  them.  Rom.  i.  32.  Their  own  consciences  accuse  them. 
Rom.  ii.  14,  15.  The  writer  has  never  conversed  with  a 
Chinese  who  did  not  acknowledge  that  he  did  many  things 
which  he  knew  to  be  wrong.  They  are  justly  condemned. 
But  their  punishment  is  by  no  means  so  severe  as  that  of 
those  who  have  heard  of  Christ,  and  yet  have  refused  to 
believe,  who  know  their  duty  better^  and  do  it  not.  Luke 
xii.  47,  48.  The  children  of  heathen  parents,  who  die  be- 
fore they  have  committed  actual  sin,  it  is  believed,  are 
saved  by  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ. 
12 


130  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

inferior  to  this,  and  most  of  them  intended 
only  as  means  to  assist  in  gaining  this. 

Here  it  may  be  said,  that  we  do  not  reckon 
converts  on  the  same  principles  with  the  Ro- 
man Catholics.  We  are  not  satisfied  when 
a  Chinese,  or  any  other  heathen,  professes 
himself  convinced  of  the  truth  of  our  religion, 
or  ready  to  perform  the  ceremonies  which  it 
enjoins.  A  mere  theoretical  belief,  and  out- 
ward observance  of  forms,  is  not  all  that  we 
require.  Such  converts  are  easily  made. 
We  should  not  call  those  converts,  whom 
the  Abbe  Dubois  styles  "my  Christians," 
nor  should  we  give  them  that  name,  even 
had  they  understood  the  whole  of  the  short 
system  of  truth  which  he  taught  them  so 
laboriously,  and  which  so  few  of  them  under- 
stood. 

When  we  speak  of  converts,  we  mean  men 
whose  hearts  are  regenerated  by  divine  grace 
and  of  whom  we  have  sufficient  reason  to 
hope  that  they  are  the  children  of  God.  In 
every  convert  there  is  not  merely  an  ac- 
quaintance with  the  simpler  doctrines  of  re- 
ligion, and  a  theoretical  persuasion  of  their 
truth;  there  is  also  a  love  of  the  truth;  re- 
pentance for  sin,  a  trust  in  the  merits  of 
Christ  alone  for  justification  before  God,  and 
a  consecration  of  the  whole  man  to  his  ser- 
vice. There  is  a  radical  change,  a  new  crea- 
tion. 2  Cor.  v.  17.  This  is  a  hard  thing. 
The  great  mass  of  men  do  not  love  the  truth, 
and  it  is  no  matter  of  surprise  that  such 
converts  are  as  yet  but  few.  If  we  reck- 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  CHINA.         131 

oned  converts  as  is  done  by  the  Roman 
Catholic  missionaries  generally,  we  should 
number  our  thousands.  There  is  much  truth 
in  the  remark  which  was  made  not  long 
since  by  a  Roman  Catholic  convert  to  a  Pro- 
testant missionary  in  Singapore:  he  said, 
"You  will  never  make  many  converts.  Your 
religion  has  too  little  to  attract  us,  and  re- 
quires too  much.  It  is  very  easy  to  become 
a  Roman  Catholic,  but  too  hard  to  be  a  Pro- 
testant." Such  being  our  belief,  and  such 
the  objects  kept  in  view,  the  means  to  gain 
them  are  the  following. 

1.  The  Preaching  of  the,  Gospel.  —  As 
already  remarked,  it  was  not  Morrison's 
first  object  to  preach  publicly  to  the  Chinese; 
whether  his  course  in  this  respect  was  wise 
or  not,  might  perhaps  admit  of  a  doubt, 
though  probably  few  who  consider  his  situa- 
tion, will  not  justify  the  course  he  took.  But 
it  has  been  the  chief  object  of  nearly  all  who 
have  laboured  among  the  Chinese  since  his 
time,  to  preach  the  gospel,  and  to  tell  them 
"  in  their  own  tongues,  in  which  they  were 
born,"  the  wonderful  works  of  God!  As 
soon  as  sufficient  acquaintance  with  the  lan- 
guage has  been  obtained,  it  has  been  the  aim 
of  each  missionary  to  preach  the  Lord  Jesus, 
"both  publicly  and  from  house  to  house." 
Religious  services  on  the  Sabbath,  and  on 
week  days,  have  been  held  in  Borneo,  Bata- 
via,  Singapore,  Malacca,  Penang  and  Bang- 
kok, and  are  still  continued  at  all  those  places 


132  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

where  there  are  missionaries.  Similar  ser- 
vices are  now  held  in  Hongkong,  Amoy, 
and  Shanghai,  and  in  the  villages  in  their 
vicinity.  The  number  of  persons  thus  in- 
structed in  the  truths  of  our  religion  is  very 
great,  arid  several  hundreds  of  persons  are 
regular  attendants  on  public  worship  in  the 
places  above  mentioned.  This  is  justly  con- 
sidered the  most  important  branch  of  mis- 
sionary labour.  There  are  "diversities  of 
gifts/'  and  therefore  "  diversities  of  opera- 
tions;" but  the  majority  of  missionaries  to 
the  Chinese  have  it  in  purpose,  to  devote 
their  chief  strength  to  this  object.  Nor  have 
these  efforts  been  unsuccessful.  In  most  of 
the  stations  some  who  are  regarded  as  con- 
verts, (in  the  Protestant  sense  of  that  term,) 
have  been  baptized:  and  there  are  already 
three  churches  of  native  Christians  in  Hong- 
kong, two  of  which  are  under  the  care  of  the 
Baptist  missionaries,  and  one  in  connexion 
with  the  London  Missionary  Society. 

2.  Another  object,  second  in  importance 
only  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  is  to 
furnish  the  Chinese  with  a  perfect  transla- 
tion of  the  word  of  God,  in  their  own  lan- 
guage. On  this  point  we  are  directly  at  issue 
with  the  Roman  Catholics.  "  The  Bible  is 
the  religion  of  Protestants,"  and  we  deem 
that  time  and  labour  well  spent  which  make 
the  heathen  better  acquainted  with  its  con- 
tents, so  that  they  can  examine  it  for  them- 
selves. We  hold  in  its  fullest  sense  the 
truth  of  the  apostolic  doctrine,  "all  Scripture 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  CHINA.        133 

is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  pro- 
fitable for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correc- 
tion, and  for  instruction  in  righteousness." 
Hence  Morrison  and  Marshman  devoted  their 
best  energies  to  this  object.  That  the  trans- 
lations they  made  should  be  imperfect,  was  a 
matter  of  course.  First  translations  from  or 
into  any  language,  are  always  imperfect,  and 
this  must  be  especially  the  case  in  a  language 
where  there  are  so  many  difficulties  as  in  the 
Chinese.  But  though  imperfect  they  are  by 
no  means  useless,  and  those  who  seek  to 
make  better  translations  are  greatly  assisted 
by  these  labours  of  their  predecessors. 

The  successors  of  Dr.  Morrison  have  not 
failed  to  endeavour  to  render  his  version 
more  perfect.  More  than  one  revised  edition 
of  the  New  Testament  has  already  been  pub- 
lished, and  the  one  now  in  use,  though  far 
from  being  perfect,  is  much  superior  to  those 
previously  made.  The  Protestant  missiona- 
ries in  China  have  formed  themselves  into  a 
general  committee  to  revise  the  existing  trans- 
lations of  the  Scriptures.  This  is  a  work  which 
must  necessarily  be  slow  in  its  progress.  It 
was  nearly  one  hundred  years  from  the  pub- 
lication of  Tyndale's  New  Testament,  until 
the  completion  of  our  present  version  of  the 
Sacred  Scriptures,  and  it  should  not  be  a  mat- 
ter surprise  if  an  equal  period  should  be 
needed,  where  the  difficulties  are  so  much 
greater.  We  deem  it  needless  to  enter  on 
any  defence  of  the  propriety  of  spending  so 


134  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

much  time  and  labour  for  this  object,  and 
equally  so,  to  show  the  advantages  resulting 
from  it. 

3.  Together  with  the   translation   of  the 
Scriptures,  the  efforts  of  the  Protestant  mis- 
sionaries have  also  been  given  to  the  pre- 
paration   of   religious   tracts.     There    are 
many  readers  in  China,  and  tracts  can  go 
where  the  living  teacher  has  no  access,  and 
where  large  books  even  could  not  be  safely 
or  easily  taken.     The  tracts  prepared,  are  on 
various  subjects,  but  chiefly  on  those  of  a 
directly  religious  nature.     The  value  of  such 
productions  is  admitted  by  all — by  none  more 
explicitly  than  the  Roman  Catholics,  who  in 
forty  years  after  their  first  entrance  had  pub- 
lished no  fewer  than  three  hundred  and  forty, 
a  number  far  larger  than  that  yet  issued  by 
Protestants.     That  these  tracts  are  imperfect 
is  admitted,  and  also  that  some  of  them  have 
been  circulated  with  too  unsparing  a  hand.' 
But  some  have  been  revised,  and  those  found 
to  be  unsuitable  to  the  taste  of  the  Chinese 
have  been  withdrawn,  and  it  may  be  truly 
said,  that  our  tracts  were  never  more  intelli- 
gible and  acceptable  to  the  people  than  at 
present.    A  judicious  caution  in  giving  them 
only  to  such  as  could  make  a  proper  use  of 
them  would  increase  their  efficacy. 

4.  Among  objects  to  which  much  time  has 
been  given,  that  of  the  education  of  Chinese 
youth  of  both  sexes,  has  held  .a  prominent 
place.     In  all  the  stations,  and  in  connexion 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  CHINA.         135 

with  all  the  missions,  there  are  schools  in 
which  several  hundreds  of  youth  have  been 
educated.  These  ha\[e  not  only  been  in- 
structed in  the  various  branches  of  elementary 
education,  but  constant  efforts  have  been 
made  to  instil  religious  truths  into  their 
minds,  and  in  several  cases  with  the  happiest 
effects. 

Besides  the  common  mission  schools,  we 
may  also  notice  the  Anglo-Chinese  College, 
and  the  school  of  the  Morrison  Education 
Society.  The  former  was  founded  in  1818, 
by  Morrison  and  Milne  at  Malacca, — and 
though  at  present  suspended,  will  probably 
be  re-opened  before  long  at  Hongkong.  The 
latter  was  established  at  Macao,  in  1838,  and 
was  removed  to  Hongkong  in  1842,  where 
it  is  now  so  well  known,  and  so  generally 
approved  that  it  is  needless  to  add  more  re- 
specting it  here. 

5,  A  subject  which  has  of  late  received 
much  attention  among  Protestant  missiona- 
ries in  China,  is  the  practice  of  the  healing 
art,  gratuitously.  The  object  of  this,  is  to 
open  the  hearts  of  the  people  by  doing  good 
to  their  bodies, — to  show  them  that  foreign- 
ers can  come  with  disinterested  motives,  as 
well  as  for  the  sake  of  gain, — to  win  their 
gratitude,  gain  their  confidence,  induce  them 
to  receive  us  as  friends,  and  thus  prepare 
them  to  receive  the  more  readily  the  truths 
that  tend  to  the  healing  of  their  soul.  The 
importance  of  the  object,  and  the  suitable- 
ness of  the  means  to  attain  it  are  easily  seen, 


136  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

and  generally  acknowledged.  In  this  way 
the  prejudices  of  the  Chinese  against  foreign- 
ers are  gradually  subdued,  access  is  more 
easily  gained,  and  multitudes  are  brought 
under  the  instructions  of  the  living  teacher, 
who  would  otherwise  have  had  no  inter- 
course with  him.  When  this  agency  shall 
be  carried  into  full  operation  it  is  intended 
that  each  medical  missionary  be  joined  by  a 
clerical  associate,  that  thus  we  may  fully  imi- 
tate the  example  of  him  who  "  went  about 
teaching  and  preaching  the  gospel  of  the 
kingdom,  and  healing  every  sickness  and 
every  disease  among  the  people."  To  a  good 
extent  this  is  already  the  case. 

There  are  now  eight  medical  missionaries 
in  China,  most  of  whom  are  actively  em- 
ployed. In  the  words  of  the  report  of  the 
Medical  Missionary  Society,  "Since  the  pub- 
lication of  the  last  report  there  have  been  at- 
tended to  upwards  of  twelve  thousand  pa- 
tients, who  have  not  only  had  relief  admin- 
istered to  their  bodies,  but  many  of  whom 
have  had  opportunities  of  hearing  the  Bible, 
and  of  the  way  of  salvation  offered  to  man."* 

Such  are  some  of  the  results  of  the  labours 
of  Protestant  missionaries  in  China,  and  we 
regard  them,  not  with  pride,  but  with  much 
thankfulness, — especially  when  we  consider 
the  difficulties  amidst  which  they  have  been 
obtained.  Of  these  the  greatest  has  doubt- 

*  For  fuller  particulars  see  the  excellent  report  of  the 
Medical  Miss.  Soc.  on  p.  369,  of  the  Chinese  Repository, 
vol.  xiii. 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  CHINA.         137 

less  been  that  till  of  late,  China  has  been 
closed  against  all  efforts  from  without,  and 
these  labours  have  been  prosecuted  at  a 
distance  from  the  proper  field,  and  amidst 
many  disadvantages  in  the  want  of  facilities 
for  acquiring  the  language,  and  mingling 
with  the  people.  A  triple  barrier  opposed 
our  intercourse  with  the  Chinese.  1.  The  dis- 
position of  the  people,  or  rather,  the  settled 
policy  of  the  government  hindered  all  foreign- 
ers, and  especially  all  religious  teachers  from 
entering  the  country.  2.  The  influence  of 
the  Roman  Catholics  was  a  great  obstacle. 
It  was  their  course  which  in  former  times 
closed  the  doors  of  China  against  foreigners, 
and  the  persecutions  against  them  in  modem 
times  have  still  farther  prevented  the  access 
of  Protestants.  3.  Even  the  influence  of  the 
English  East  India  Company  was  unfavour- 
able to  missionary  exertions.  It  was  with  dif- 
ficulty they  allowed  Dr.  Morrison  to  remain, 
and  while  deriving  the  greatest  benefit  from 
his  talents  and  acquirements,  they  looked 
with  a  jealous  eye  on  all  his  proceedings. 
When  a  word  from  them  would  have  secured 
for  Dr.  Milne  a  residence  in  Macao,  they 
refused  to  speak  that  word;*  and  in  conse- 
quence partly  of  their  objection  to  all  such 
efforts,  all  the  men  sent  by  the  English 
churches  previous  to  the  dissolution  of  their 
factory  in  China,  found  it  more  advantageous 
to  settle  at  a  great  distance  from  the  field  in 
which  they  sought  to  labour.  Consequently 

*  Morrison's  Memoirs,  vol.  i.,  pp.  366,  363,  414. 


138  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

the  great  mass  of  efforts,  have  until  of  late, 
been  expended  in  fields  of  a  most  unpromis- 
ing character,  and  more  success  has  attended 
the  efforts  made  in  China  within  the  last  few- 
years,  than  all  those  previously  made  beyond 
its  borders. 

The  question  is  often  asked,  why  Protes- 
tant missionaries  do  not  enter  the  country 
and  prosecute  their  labours  as  the  Roman 
Catholics  do?  but  the  answer  is  easily  given. 
When  the  Jesuits  were  expelled  by  Yung 
ching  in  1724,  they  had  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands of  converts,  and  these  were  in  all  parts 
of  the  empire.  The  greater  part  of  them 
remained  unmolested,  and  were  suffered 
to  retain  their  new  belief  notwithstanding 
the  persecutions  against  their  teachers  and 
some  few  of  the  converts  from  the  higher 
ranks.  It  was  therefore  easy  for  the  Roman 
Catholic  missionaries  to  enter  the  country 
in  disguise,  and  to  remain  concealed  in  the 
houses  of  their  converts.  Thus  they  have 
always  done.  Although  in  the  country,  they 
never  make  open  attempts  to  proselyte  the 
people. 

The  Protestant  missionary  has  no  such 
advantages,  and  no  object,  in  attempting  to 
penetrate  into  the  country.  Were  he  in  the 
interior  he  has  no  place  of  concealment,  and 
if  detected,  as  he  certainly  would  be,  he  has 
no  prospect  of  obtaining  the  martyr's  crown. 
All  that  would  be  done,  would  be  to  take 
him  quietly  to  Canton,  or  the  nearest  of  the 
five  ports,  and  command  him  to  leave  the 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  CHINA.        139 

country.  If  he  made  a  second  attempt  a 
similar  course  would  be  pursued  by  the  Chi- 
nese, joined  probably  wfth  a  complaint  to 
the  authorities  of  his  nation  for  not  restrain- 
ing him  from  "  wandering  away  into  the 
country,"  and  inasmuch  as  Protestant  go- 
vernments (unlike  those  of  Roman  Catho- 
lic countries,)  are  more  disposed  to  discour- 
age than  to  favour  missionary  efforts,  the 
only  result  of  his  efforts  to  enter  the  country 
would  be  the  waste  of  his  time  and  his  be- 
coming involved  in  needless  embarrassments. 
Nor  are  we  disposed  to  favour  such  secret 
and  stealthy  means  as  are  used  by  the  Roman 
Catholic  missionaries.  When  God  in  his 
Providence  opens  the  door,  it  will  be  found 
that  Protestant  missionaries  are  not  back- 
ward to  enter,  and  if  called  to  endure  the 
martyr's  death,  we  have  every  confidence 
that  the  spirit  of  their  fathers,  and  the  spirit 
of  their  God,  which  has  enabled  many  in 
times  past  to  yield  up  their  lives  at  the 
stake,  will  be  found  to  dwell  in  their  hearts 
still. 

In  addition  to  the  direct  influences  and  re- 
sults of  Protestant  missions  in  China,  there 
are  others  of  importance  which,  though  they 
have  less  relation  to  religion,  should  not  be 
overlooked. 

1.  There  is  an  influence  on  the  social  and 
literary  habits  of  the  Chinese  people.  Hith- 
erto, few  have  associated  on  terms  of  familiar 
intercourse  with  them,  except  the  mission- 
aries. Few  have  spoken  with  them  in  their 


140  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

own  language,  and  there  have  been  few 
others  to  whom  they  could  go  for  informa- 
tion respecting  other  countries.  Hence,  much 
of  what  they  have  learned  of  the  customs, 
modes  of  life,  history,  and  the  sciences  of 
foreigners,  has  been  communicated  by  mis- 
sionaries. The  children  in  the  mission  schools 
are  often  better  acquainted  with  the  princi- 
ples of  geography,  natural  history,  and  the 
sciences  in  general,  than  the  literati  of  the 
nation,  or  the  emperor's  prime  ministers. 
The  person  from  whom  Kiying  now  derives 
much  of  his  information  respecting  other 
countries,  was  educated  entirely  by  an  Ameri- 
can Protestant  missionary.  The  influence  of 
the  scholars  in  the  mission  schools  bids  fair 
to  become  great.  In  its  nature  it  must  pro- 
gress slowly  at  first,  but  as  one  after  another 
becomes  enlightened  and  returns  to  the  bosom 
of  his  family  and  friends,  it  will  become  more 
and  more  extensive.  Is  it  anticipating  too 
much  to  hope  that  thus  the  literature  and 
arts  of  western  nations  shall  be  transfused 
into  the  Chinese  mind? 

Numerous  efforts  have  been  made  to  intro- 
duce among  the  Chinese  the  art  of  printing 
with  metalic  type;  most  of  these  have  been 
made  by  Protestant  missionaries,  and  they 
have  been  attended  with  so  much  success, 
that  we  anticipate  seeing,  at  no  distant  day, 
the  cumbrous  and  imperfect  mode  of  block- 
printing  giving  way  to  the  neater,  cheaper, 
and  more  expeditious  methods  of  more  civil- 
ized lands. 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  CHINA.        141 

2.  The  influence  exerted  by  Protestant 
missionaries  in  bringing  the  Chinese  into 
more  friendly  relations  with  foreign  lands, 
is  also  worthy  of  notice.  This  influence  is 
exerted,  partly  as  stated  above,  by  bringing 
the  habits,  feelings,  and  literature  of  foreign- 
ers into  closer  contact  with  the  Chinese  mind: 
partly  by  diffusing  information  respecting 
China,  among  foreigners:  and  partly  by 
more  direct  efforts.  Much  of  what  is  known 
of  China  comes  to  us  through  former  Roman 
Catholic  missionaries,  but  a  large  part  of 
what  has  been  learned  more  recently,  is  from 
the  Protestants.  It  is  scarcely  needful  to  re- 
fer to  the  communications  of  Dr.  Morrison, 
and  the  pages  of  the  Chinese  Repository. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  greater  part  of 
the  facilities  for  acquiring  the  Chinese  lan- 
guage have  been  prepared  by  Protestant 
missionaries.  With  the  exception  of  the  ex- 
cellent work  of  Premare,  (a  work  however 
of  little  use  to  a  beginner,  and  one  too  which 
but  for  the  care  of  Protestant  missionaries, 
would  scarcely  have  been  published,)  the 
greater  part  of  the  dictionaries,  grammars, 
arid  other  elementary  books  and  translations 
are  the  work  of  Protestants.  We  do  not 
forget  the  numerous  and  valuable  contribu- 
tions of  P.  Gongalves,  but  unfortunately  they 
are  in  a  language  little  used  by  those  who 
study  Chinese,  and  they  are  much  less  known 
than  they  deserve. 

The  friendly  intercourse  between  the  Chi- 
nese government  and  people  and  foreign  na- 


142  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

tions,  during  the  last  thirty-five  years,  has 
been  greatly  facilitated  by  the  presence  and 
exertions  of  those  of  whom  we  speak.  The 
station  held  by  Dr.  Morrison  was  considered 
so  important,  that  when  he  was  dismissed 
from  it  by  order  of  the  English  East  India 
Company  for  pursuing  his  missionary  labours, 
their  agents  in  China  assumed  the  responsi- 
bility of  retaining  him  in  their  service.*  His 
exertions  during  the  embassy  to  Peking  in 
1815,  commanded  the  unqualified  approba- 
tion of  the  persons  composing  that  embassy. 
When  he  died,  his  place  was  taken  by  his 
son,  J.  R.  Morrison,  Esq.,  a  man,  who  with 
all  his  father's  abilities  and  acquirements, 
was  not  less  devoted  to  the  missionary  cause. 
The  writer  will  not  soon  forget  the  deep  feel- 
ing with  which  Mr.  Morrison  once  said  to 
him,  "I  wish  you  would  call  on  me,  when- 
ever you  think  I  can  be  of  service  to  you.  I 
cannot  be  a  missionary  myself,  but  it  is  one 
of  my  first  objects  to  assist  those  who  are, 
and  to  further  the  cause  of  Christ  in  China.5' 
The  importance  of  his  services  in  promoting 
friendly  feelings  between  China  and  Great 
Britain  were  not  overrated  by  the  late 
governor  of  Hongkong,  when  he  called  his 
death  "a  national  loss." 

The  late  treaty  between  China  and  the 
United  States  of  America  was  negotiated  by 
the  assistance  of  Protestant  missionaries.  In 
all  the  ports  yet  opened  to  foreigners  fre- 

*  Morrison's  Memoirs,  vol.  L,  p.  415. 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  CHINA.       143 

quent  recourse  has  been  had  to  them,  by 
both  natives  and  foreigners,  and  that  too,  in 
cases  where  the  lives  of  many  persons  de- 
pended on  their  exertions.  It  is  not  for  ns 
to  repeat  the  praises  often  bestowed  upon 
them,  but  we  may  be  permitted  to  hope  that 
the  blessing  pronounced  upon  the  "  peace 
makers,"  may  long  continue  to  be  deserved 
by  them. 

With  this  review  of  all  that  has  been  done 
to  spread  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  in 
China,  it  is  not,  difficult  to  answer  the  ques- 
tion, whether  the  prophecy  in  Isaiah  respect- 
ing the  land  of  Sinimhas  been  fulfilled.  Much 
has  been  done  to  give  this  people  the  know- 
ledge of  the  truth.  God  has  not  left  himself 
without  witness  even  here;  and  as  far  as 
China  is  concerned,  there  is  no  force  in  the 
common  remark,  that  Christianity  was  not 
intended  for  the  world,  because  so  many 
nations  have  been  left  in  ignorance. 

Something  was  done  by  the  Jews,  and 
more  by  the  early  Christians.  In  the  time 
of  the  Nestorians  the  knowledge  of  God  in 
China  received  its  greatest  extension.  Some- 
thing has  since  been  done  by  the  Roman 
Catholics  and  by  the  Protestants,  and  the 
signs  of  the  times  encourage  us  to  hope  for 
more.  The  future  is  full  of  hope. 

If  the  prophecy  contemplates  the  conver- 
sion of  the  whole  land  to  God, — as  we  firmly 
believe  it  does, — then  it  has  yet  received  but 
a  partial  fulfilment.  And  herein  we  find 
one  of  the  greatest  encouragements  to  per- 


144  THE    LAND    OF    SINIM. 

severing  efforts  to  evangelize  this  empire. 
No  word  of  God  can  possibly  fail.  What  he 
has  predicted  must  come  to  pass;  and  the 
but  partially  fulfilled  prophecy,  respecting 
the  Land  of  Sinim,  offers  to  every  lover  of 
the  best  good  of  this  land,  one  of  the  most 
cheering  inducements  to  labour.  The  time 
of  its  accomplishment  is  daily  drawing  nearer, 
and  no  devices  or  opposition  of  man  can  hin- 
der it. 


APPENDIX. 


TOLERATION    OF   THE    CHRISTIAN    RELIGION    IN 
CHINA. 

WE  insert,  as  an  Appendix,  the  Edict  of  the  Em- 
peror of  China  tolerating  the  Christian  religion 
in  a  portion  of  his  dominions.  It  is  -to  the  exer- 
tions of  the  French  Ambassador  that  Christianity 
is  indebted  for  this  toleration,  which  it  has  never 
before  enjoyed ;  yet  it  is  understood  that  this  tolera- 
tion not  only  extends  in  form  to  Roman  Catholics, 
but  that  its  provisions  are  equally  favourable  to 
Protestants.  It  does  not  confer  all  the  liberty  that 
could  be  desired,  but  its  provisions  will  be  of  great 
value  in  the  prosecution  of  missions  in  China. 

EDICT  OF  THE  EMPEROR  OF  CHINA. 

Keying,  Imperial  Commissioner,  and  Viceroy  of 
Canton  and  Kwang-se  provinces,  respectfully 
memorializes  [the  Emperor']  as  follows: 

It  appears  that  the  religion  of  the  Lord  of  Hea- 
ven is  honoured  and  observed  by  the  various  na- 
tions of  Europe,  mainly  with  the  view  of  exhort- 
ing to  the  practice  of  virtue,  and  repressing  vice. 
Ever  since  the  Ming  dynasty  it  has  made  its  way 
13 


146       •  APPENDIX. 

into  China,  and  has  not  yet  been  prohibited ;  but 
because  some  of  the  adherents  of  that  religion  in 
China  have  repeatedly  made  a  handle  of  their  reli- 
gion to  act  viciously,  therefore  the  officers  of  go- 
vernment, on  discovering  the  same,  have  punished 
them,  as  is  on  record.  During  the  reign  of  the 
Emperor  Keaking  it  was  first  determined  to  dis- 
tinguish these  and  punish  them  for  their  offences, 
the  sole  object  of  which  regulation  was  to  prevent 
the  professors  of  the  said  religion  in  China  from 
practising  wickedness,  and  not  with  the  view  of  issu- 
ing prohibitions  against  the  religion  of  foreign  and 
European  nations.  Now,  according  to  the  request 
of  the  envoy  of  the  French  nation,  Lagrene,  that 
the  virtuous  professors  of  the  said  religion  in  China 
should  be  exonerated  from  blame,  it  appears  suita- 
ble to  accede  thereto ;  and  it  is  proper  to  request 
that  henceforth,  with  regard  to  all  persons,  whether 
Chinese  or  foreigners,  professing  the  religion  of  the 
Lord  of  Heaven,  who  do  not  create  disturbances, 
nor  act  improperly,  it  be  humbly  entreated  of  the 
Imperial  benevolence  to  grant  that  they  be  exone- 
rated from  blame.  But  if  such  persons  resume 
their  former  ways,  and,  independently  of  their  pro- 
fessions, commit  other  crimes  and  misdemeanors, 
then  they  will  be  dealt  with  according  to  existing 
Jaws.  With  regard  to  the  French,  and  the  subjects 
of  other  foreign  nations,  who  profess  the  afore- 
said religion,  it  is  only  permitted  to  them  to  build 
churches  at  the  five  ports  opened  for  foreign  com- 
merce, and  they  must  not  improperly  enter  the 
inner  land  to  diffuse  their  faith.  Should  any  offend 
against  the  regulations,  and  overstep  the  bounda- 
ries, the  local  officers,  as  soon  as  they  can  appre- 
hend them,  shall  immediately  deliver  them  over  to 
the  consuls  of  the  different  nations  to  be  punished; 


APPENDIX.  147 

but  they  must  not  rashly  inflict  upon  them  the 
punishment  of  death.  This  is  in  order  to  mani- 
fest a  tender  regard  for  the  common  people,  so 
that  the  wheat  and  the  chaff  is  not  confusedly 
mixed  together,  and  that  reason  and  law  may  be 
equitably  administered.  That  which  is  requested 
is,  that  the  good  and  honest  professors  of  the  afore- 
said religion  may  be  exempted  from  punishment : 
it  is  reasonable  therefore  that  a  respectful  memo- 
rial be  presented,  intreating  that  by  the  imperial 
favour  the  above  suggestions  may  be  carried  into 
effect. 

On  the  24^7?  year  of  Toan  Hwang,  llth  month, 
19th  day,  (Dec.  28,  1844,)  was  received  the  Im- 
perial reply,  saying, 

"  LET  IT  BE  AS  IS  REQUESTED.       RESPECT  THIS." 

On  the  12th  month  and  the  25th  day,  (Feb.  1, 
1845,)  the  order  arrived  at  Saochow,  (capital  of 
Keangnan.) 


THE  END. 


I  M    UO  /O7 


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